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Kilkayi Barramundi Dreaming

Mistake Creek Massacre – Madeline Purdie

“This story what my old people told me. They told me that they were sleeping here now in this building. Old mister Radigan he as a policeman, white gardier policeman, white man. He was living in this house in the art centre (what’s known the green house). He was the sergeant and he had an employee, this employee was an aboriginal employee from Darwin somewhere. Somewhere that side, NT and this employee for him he went to mistake creek there, where this mob bin having their holiday camp. Everybody used to come to gather from different area out there and holiday camp there. At mistake creek they was having it this time. And all my old people ancestors and anyway… that employee for my Radigan bin trying have an affair with one of these ladies and she said no I already got husband, so he took a sulk. He got angry that she didn’t want to have an affair with him, so he took that pet cow – the police, they had a pet cow with a big bell on it. He took it long way behind that hill and hide it, he tied it up to a tree and he took the bell off the cow and bought it back to sergeant and he said “My boss look here them people there at that holiday camp la mistake creek here them kill you cow and they cooking it up!” but they was cooking kangaroo. They had kangaroo covered up. And he bin go and tell this boss liar and this boss and ‘im bin go back and shoot all them people there… at mistake creek they just go an kill the lot. And they was waiting for their dinner to be cook. Then after he killed them he opened them thing to find that they was cooking five kangaroo’s in there, all that kangaroo. And so all that thing now they just chucked them in the fire. Burnt them. Burnt all the remains for our people them old people that them kill.” – Madeline Purdie

WINUBA – EVELYN MALGIL

‘This is my family place. Hot water spring and cold water spring. That big hill on the background is my family place. That water live all year ’round. That little sand frog, it live for a long time.’ This place is the Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) site for the sand frog. The waterhole at Winuba holds water all through the Dry season.

WINUBA – EVELYN MALGIL

‘This is my family place. Hot water spring and cold water spring. That big hill on the background is my family place. That water live all year ’round. That little sand frog, it live for a long time.’ This place is the Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) site for the sand frog. The waterhole at Winuba holds water all through the Dry season.

Gija Skin Group

This painting is about skin groups and the difficulties people are facing today in association with this matter,’ Yvonne Martin writes. ‘In the Dreamtime skin groups between men and women had a very strict law.’ These are (part 1): 1. Marry right skin. 2. Talk to right skin. 3. Body contact with right skin. Now (part 2): 4. Very few marry right skin. 5. Very few talk to right skin. 6. Very few have body contact with right skin. Easy and sweet (part 3): 7. Now those that have marry right skin are still together. 8. Now very few are talking to right skin. 9. Now very few are making body contact with right skin.”

Bungle bungles

Kilkayi Barramundi Dreaming

Bungle bungles

Warlawoon – Kathy Ramsay

“This painting is about the Warlawoon Country my dad Rammey Ramsay country my beautiful old artist dad who left his memory with me to carry on after him.

Trees, camping areas, water holes, hills, and traditional stories of his mum and dad and their parents and so on he told me.” Kathy Ramsay

Kathy is one many children of the late senior Gija man of Jungoora skin, Rammay Ramsay, whose ancestral Country lies to the west of Bedford Downs near Elgee Cliffs. Following in her father’s foorsteps, her work is forever infused with the memory of Warlawoon Country. Together with a longing for Country, their work teases out the complexities of Gija world-views and the impact of pastoral occupation on their land.

Bush Flowers