CompNet Systems

warlawoon country – Kathy Ramsey

Within this artwork Kathy has described a place known as Warlawoon – it is located between two stations, these are known to be Bedford Downs and Tableland St. This was where Kathy’s father and renowned artist and elder Rammey  Ramsey had grown up.

 Although minimal in appearance, the artist’s artwork are laden with meaning – as Kathy paints the hills, camping places and the waterholes of this country.

The water holes are seen as the circles coloured in yellow ochres – as well as the hills, whereas the camping places are located on the bottom of artwork described in red square like figure, surrounded by tree’s that the artist has painted within each corner of artwork- seen in green fern like shapes.

Today Kathy now lives in the community of Juwurlinji otherwise known as (Bow River), north of Warlawoon. However this work is forever infused with the memory of and longing for Warlawoon. Beyond depictions of place, these paintings act as reminders of the impact of pastoral occupation on Gija homelands.

HOLIDAY CAMP – LORRAINE DAYLIGHT

Lorraine Daylight has painted her father’s country. Daylight’s father is senior Warmun artist Gordon Barney. ‘Holiday camp,’ Gordon Barney says. ‘Walkabout every holiday catching kangaroo, porcupine, goanna – all sorts.’ Barney worked as a stockman on Alice Downs station as a young man. In the periods where they were given a break from station work, Barney and his family would camp at this place and live on bush food. This country was excellent hunting ground.

Bungarrata

PURNULULU

WARRARNANY DU WANGGARNAL

These hills lie behind Warmun Community. In the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming) warranany – the eagle told his wife wangkarnal – the crow – to cook some kangaroo for him to eat. She was lazy and so she fell asleep instead. When she woke up the crow wanted to eat the meat that the eagle had cooked. The eagle burned up white rock (manjal – white quartz) until it became a red-hot spearhead and he stabbed the crow in the eye. That is why some crows have a white eye. The eagle and crow were brother and sister – Jangari and Nangari – and would have been promised in marriage, unusually as they are of the wrong skin groups for each other. In the early days when a girl was born she would be sat on the knee of her promised husband. When she was eight or nine years old, he would take her and ‘grow her up’, Eileen Bray says. Often a brother would be promised to the sister of their brother’s wife, and vice versa. White rock can be seen on the hills – it is the kangaroo’s fat and the eagle’s spearhead from the Ngarranggarni.

Doomerinj

Doomerinj Dreaming

That one emu, he bin poke his head down in the ground and called out. They reckon that other one (emu) which was situated in the West, further away from the East one been relay that message onto that one in the Southwest. That message, when it travels underground, it’s like a big bang. The Yellow in the middle represents the Bang where the echoes meet. That bang comes from that echo where the messages from East and West meet. That bang also causes the earth to move or shake, like an earthquake for about 2.5-3 seconds. And, they reckon sometimes it gave people back then a message – which could mean somebody passed away or big trouble coming ahead.

True Event from Doomeruny

When I was a kid growing up here in Warmun, old people used to tell us a story about that Doomeruny. And because we grew up in tents and humpies and no electricity and we used to get water down the creek, we could hear this big bang and the moving of the earth under our feet. It’s a pretty powerful true story. It’s still happening but you need to go somewhere more isolated to feel Doomeruny vibrations and hear it.

Gija Legend and Belief about Doomeruny

The old people lived without electricity, power, mobile phones or housing. They felt and believed the vibrations of Doomeruny. From that East to that West, it’s about 60-70 odd kilometres apart, and that one from the West to the Southwest, is approximately 180 kms. They know something pretty powerful was travelling underneath from one end to the other end (East to West, and West to Southwest).

Gija people believe mining will cause a big earthquake in that Gija country where that message or sound travels. 

Young boy seeking ground sugar bag

“This is a story about a young boy seeking ground sugar bag.

All my elders were out looking for ground sugar bag near the Mabel down hill, they been looking all day they were all weak and tired from digging in the ant hills looking for this ground sugar bag.

they told one young boy who was in the group with them to climb up and look around where the fat anthills (termite mounds) are that may have the ground sugar bag.

He climbed up Mabel down hill, he said nothing here in the middle where we been looking, only sunrise side and sun set side the young boy said.

On his way back down the hill he turned into a rock dreaming that’s him on the top of this hill in my painting.”

Argyle Diamond Mine Rehab

This painting is about the closure of Argyle mine – the right hand side depicts the devastation caused by the site, and the left hand side depicts how we would would like it to be rehabilitated for our future generations.

The current rehabilitation project started in 2020 and we can see some positive changes, however we know that our land will never be the same again.