Traditionally, Nganiyal (conical mats) were used as an insect screen when erected, and as a sitting mat when folded. They are used in Ceremony as well as a functional item.
Nowadays, artists weave many different shapes including flat, round and oblong.
Traditionally, Nganiyal (conical mats) were used as an insect screen when erected, and as a sitting mat when folded. They are used in Ceremony as well as a functional item.
Nowadays, artists weave many different shapes including flat, round and oblong.
Yolngu collect Dakawa from the side of the river or swamp where it’s muddy and there are lots of them. They break the claws off, throw them on the fire and eat them. Dakawa are also good food for turtles.
“These here are the waterholes around Punmu, [including] Rawa spring. Rawa means long time. [There’s also] Tuu-tuu, Jila-jila, Wirlarra and Yilyara.”
– Danielle Booth
Punmu refers to a region and an Aboriginal community within its vicinity, located 670km North-East of Newman. Created during the return to Country movement of the 1980s, with the recognition of Martu land rights and native title, the community was named after a nearby Jukurrpa (Dreaming) story.
Punmu community sits on the edge of a large salt lake known as Nyayartakujarra (Ngayarta Kujarra, Lake Dora). The lake runs south into Karlamilyi River (Rudall River). Surrounding Punmu are numerous fresh water soaks and the red tali (sandhills) typical of the area. The most frequently visited water sources around Punmu include Wirlarra, Rawa, Yilyara, Jila-jila, Tuu-tuu, Pirrkili, Jurnu, Wilurr, and Wala- Wala. Further south are Juturrpa, Wawul, and Tarl.
During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. At this time knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Each of the hundreds of claypans, rockholes, waterholes, soaks and springs found in the Martu desert homelands is known by name, location, quality and seasonal availability through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa narratives.
Sylvia Wilson explains a series of works paper called, Mum, The Boss, My daughter and the wanti (woman). (working title)
“It’s pretty much the line of thought of my family. So that’s my daughter and then my granny (nan nan they call her) and then my mum, SW. And that’s my nanna Lorna, I’ve done two paintings of her. It’s pretty much the line of where you’re from. That connection and family tree.”
– Sylvia Wilson
The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, and include speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Martu Wangka languages. Martumili Artists work in the Newman based gallery and studio spaces, as well as within remote Aboriginal communities Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong. Recognised for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. The artists are predominantly painters, working in acrylics and oils, though many also weave baskets from gathered grasses and wool. Popular mediums among younger Martu artists include photography and animation. The group proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands.
Sylvia Wilson explains a series of works paper called, Mum, The Boss, My daughter and the wanti (woman). (working title)
“It’s pretty much the line of thought of my family. So that’s my daughter and then my granny (nan nan they call her) and then my mum, SW. And that’s my nanna Lorna, I’ve done two paintings of her. It’s pretty much the line of where you’re from. That connection and family tree.”
– Sylvia Wilson
The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, and include speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Martu Wangka languages. Martumili Artists work in the Newman based gallery and studio spaces, as well as within remote Aboriginal communities Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong. Recognised for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. The artists are predominantly painters, working in acrylics and oils, though many also weave baskets from gathered grasses and wool. Popular mediums among younger Martu artists include photography and animation. The group proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands.
Sylvia Wilson explains a series of works paper called, Mum, The Boss, My daughter and the wanti (woman). (working title)
“It’s pretty much the line of thought of my family. So that’s my daughter and then my granny (nan nan they call her) and then my mum, SW. And that’s my nanna Lorna, I’ve done two paintings of her. It’s pretty much the line of where you’re from. That connection and family tree.”
– Sylvia Wilson
The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, and include speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Martu Wangka languages. Martumili Artists work in the Newman based gallery and studio spaces, as well as within remote Aboriginal communities Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong. Recognised for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. The artists are predominantly painters, working in acrylics and oils, though many also weave baskets from gathered grasses and wool. Popular mediums among younger Martu artists include photography and animation. The group proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands.
Sylvia Wilson explains a series of works paper called, Mum, The Boss, My daughter and the wanti (woman). (working title)
“It’s pretty much the line of thought of my family. So that’s my daughter and then my granny (nan nan they call her) and then my mum, SW. And that’s my nanna Lorna, I’ve done two paintings of her. It’s pretty much the line of where you’re from. That connection and family tree.”
– Sylvia Wilson
The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, and include speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Martu Wangka languages. Martumili Artists work in the Newman based gallery and studio spaces, as well as within remote Aboriginal communities Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong. Recognised for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. The artists are predominantly painters, working in acrylics and oils, though many also weave baskets from gathered grasses and wool. Popular mediums among younger Martu artists include photography and animation. The group proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands.
Minyarra (bush onion) are a favoured bush tucker amongst the Martu, popular for their sweet, nutty taste and for the relative ease with which they are foraged. Typically, minyarra is collected in large quantities close to springs, and then shared and eaten over the following days. The minyarra plant is small and grass like, with edible tubers at the root. They can be eaten raw or cooked, and are harvested by first loosening the soil at their base with a pounding stone, and then pulling out the plant.
During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, Martu would traverse very large distances annually in small family groups, moving seasonally from water source to water source, and hunting and gathering bush tucker as they went. Whilst desert life has moved away from mobile hunter-gatherer subsistence throughout the course of the twentieth century, bush tucker continues to be a significant component of the modern Martu diet. Hunting and gathering bush tucker remains equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally. Though hunting and gathering implements have been modernised, methods of harvesting, tracking and the use of fire burning to drive animals from their retreats are still commonly practiced today.
“Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23) is my grandfather’s Country. There’s a waterhole there, Kaalpa waterhole. It’s my two pops’ Country. They been walking around, hunting around Kaalpa. You can see a yapu (rock), warla (lake), claypans, karru (creek) and tuwa (sandhills) there. It’s on the [Canning] Stock Route, it’s Well 23.
In pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, pujimanpa (desert born people) walking around all this Country. My pops told me about that place, a big flat area, parlkarra (flat country) good for hunting parnajarrpa (goanna), lunki (witchetty grub), lungkurta (blue tongue lizard), wamurla (bush tomato), jinyjiwirrilyi (wild gooseberry). Kaalpa is a busy place for emus getting a drink.
I went [to Kaalpa] for the first time [in 2018] on a Martumili KJ [Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa] trip. I went hunting there, got a parnajarrpa. When I went there, I was pukurlpa (happy). It made you open up your spirit, it feels like home.”
– Corban Clause Williams
Kaalpa is a permanent water source located northeast of Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). This site is a place of great cultural significance, and is also known for good hunting. Adjacent to the waterhole is a hill of the same name. The landscape around Kaalpa is parlkarra (flat country), bordered by tali (sandhills) stretching as far as Windy Corner, northeast and towards the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The large and dangerous Jukurrpa (Dreamtime) mosquito and fly beings partially created the landforms in this area and continue to live underground here.
Kaalpa also features in the Minyipuru (Jakulyukulyu, Seven Sisters) Jukurrpa, a central creation narrative for Martu, Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people that is associated with the seasonal Pleiades star constellation. At Kaalpa the Minyipuru met a group of men; it was the first time either group had seen members of the opposite sex. The men tried to grab the women, but the Minyipuru chased them, hitting them with their digging sticks and leaving them lying there as they continued travelling east.
Relayed in song, dance, stories and paintings, Minyipuru serves as a creation narrative, a source of information relating to the physical properties of the land, and an embodiment of Aboriginal cultural laws. Beginning in Roebourne on the west coast of Western Australia, the story morphs in its movement eastward across the land, following the women as they walk, dance, and even fly from waterhole to waterhole. As they travel the women camp, sing, wash, dance and gather food, leaving markers in the landscape and creating landforms that remain to this day, such as groupings of rocks and trees, grinding stones and seeds. During the entirety of their journey the women are pursued by a lustful old man, Yurla, although interactions with other animals, groups of men, and spirit beings are also chronicled in the narrative.
The intersection of the Canning Stock Route with Kaalpa also made this a site of early contact with Europeans for many Martu then living a pujiman life in the desert. Following the route’s construction, Martu encountered Europeans and other Martu working as cattle drovers as they would travel up and down the Stock Route from water source to water source. Increasingly, pujimanpa followed the route to newly established ration depots, mission and pastoral stations. They were drawn to the route in search of food, by a sense of curiosity, or by loneliness. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, most of the desert family groups had left the desert. Eventually, these factors combined with an extreme and prolonged drought in the 1960s to prompt the few remaining pujimanpa to move in from the desert.