224976639013

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Tingari Men

Ben Holland was born at Kiritjiti. His country is around Kiritjiti and Yanpan, near Mantamaru. This painting depicts the Tingari Men, a group of ancestral elders who – in the Dreaming – travelled over vast areas of the Western Desert, performing rituals and creating or “opening up” the country (Perkins & Fink 2000:278). They were usually accompanied by recently-initiated novices to whom they provided instruction in the ritual and law of the region (Myers 1986:59-64). The adventures of the Tingari groups are enshrined in numerous song-myth cycles which provide explanations for contemporary customs in Western Desert aboriginal life (Perkins & Fink 2000:278; Berndt 1970:222-223; Berndt & Berndt 1996:266-267). Deep knowledge of Tingari business is restricted to men possessing appropriate levels of seniority in Western Desert society, but many stories have “public versions” which do not disclose secret/sacred knowledge.

Categories: Warakurna Artists Aboriginal Corporation

Name: Ben Holland (Dec)

Language: Ngaanyatjarra

Community: Warburton

Biography:

Born 1/01/1933 Ben Holland was born at Kiritjiti. His country is around Kiritjiti and Yanpan, near Mantamaru. As a young man he walked the country around Mantamaru to Linden Bore, in his Mother’s country and to Karngka, in his Father’s country. He remembers times when there was very little food to be found in the bush, there was always tjarulka (Mulga Apples) to be found at Yanpan. "We would go along eating that little mai - tjaurulka were always there at Yanpan." Ben says this is why tjarulka is so important to him. Ben was a ‘big boy’ in his teens when he walked with his family to the Warburton Mission following a meeting with Mr Wade near Linden Bore. He used to trade papa-ku (dingo) skins with the Native Patrol Officers to get flour and tea for his family. "I used to get lots of papa skins with the spear. As a young boy I was hunting for kangaroo and emu. As a man I was still hunting with the spear and my hunting dog. He was a dingo, a good kangaroo dog. I never used a rifle." Ben began painting with Warakurna Artists in 2010 when he moved to Wanarn.

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