CompNet Systems

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Dayiwul Ngarranggarni – Geraldine Bedford

Geraldine’s aunty Lena Nyadbi told her this story and now Geraldine is the custodian.

 

Women travelled up river placing a spinifex net across the water to catch Dayiwul (Barramundi). Halfway to Gawinji the women stopped and left the net at this place; it turned to stone. This place was destroyed when the Argyle Diamond Mine was first cut. Nyadbi says there was a soak where Gija people used to dig down into the ground for water when other waterholes had dried up. The diamonds mined today are the scales of the barramundi who jumped through the range to escape capture. She saw the net they had placed in the river and jumped over it. These sites have been destroyed by the pit of the mine.

 

Bedford has made this work to remember the country before the mine and to pass these stories and history on to her children and grandchildren.

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My Birthplace

This painting is about a place at Alice Downs Station, Eileen’s birthplace, right next to this beautiful big boab tree near the creek there. The Boab we are born under then becomes our tree. We all have our special Boab tree. 

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Ngaginyji Joomooloony

This painting is about Joomena’s Ngaginyji Joomooloony, her boab tree. “The boab tree we are born under becomes our special tree for life; this one is Ngaginyji Joomooloony, which means ‘My Boabtree'” 

 

Eileen Bray Joomena was born on the side of a dusty highway along the road from Alice Downs Station to Old river and next to the creek that runs into Alice Downs. The family had ventured out on a fishing trip when Eileen’s mum went into labour and was ‘laid down, with her sisters in law’, under a big boab tree and gave birth. The women stayed there, under this boab for a week as is customary, until all were ready to go back to camp.

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BOORNOOLOOLOO (PURNULULU) – PATRICK MUNG MUNG

‘That one Boornoolooloo (Purnululu) – Bungle Bungle Country,’ Patrick Mung Mung says.



Through his late father, senior Gija leader and esteemed cross-cultural communicator George Mung Mung, Patrick is a traditional owner of the world heritage listed Boornoolooloo (Purnululu). Of this work Patrick says, ‘That’s all that sandy hill country with green grasses and the old people used to live there in the old days like a village,’



Patrick was born at Spring Creek and grew up on Texas Downs Station, where he worked as a proud stockman before becoming an artist. He mustered all over this Country and South into Boornoolooloo where he often went during holiday time with his family. Patrick was among the last Aboriginal stockman to leave Texas in the 1970’s after the introduction of equal wages.

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Banana Springs

“This story is about Banana Spring near Texas Down Station. My mum and Dad and the families from Texas Downs Station used to go out for the hunting and fishing. And also camping out. They used to call it dinner camp, because there they would always tell stories about different places, and they would tell us where their birth place was out bush.” – Jane Yalunga 

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Old Mabel Downs Station

“This is the story about when my old people where living in the cave, and those two there on top were sitting there well before the Gadia came and put a station on this land.

The new station would be called Mabel Downs, and that old man, the old man who had been there before, found that Gadia building things so he came down and asked for a job. He asked for his wife and him. But they never been give a job to that old lady girl – only him.

When they built the new station, well he bin come into work all the time. And they said to each other, “all right, thank you” “Darmaluk” that means thank you.

They shake hands now, come together you know? Gadia and old man, our old people here, come together in good way. Work together, you know? Happy together.

Old people, before then, they didn’t have house – you can hear by brother sing there too, learning from my dad, you know, looking for food and a good place to camp.”

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Bush Tucker

When I was schooling in Warmun every year after wet season my grandmother and Great grandmother would take us out every day after school for bush tucker and bush medicines. They would teach us about how to collect bush tucker right time of year.

Sometimes they show us what sort of bush medicine to collect and then take us home to show us how to prepare for different kids of illnesses such as for sores, flues, colds and wound healing by putting in our bogies (bath).