I still hunt my Grand Mothers country for goanna, bush medicine and yams.
I hunt all year round, hunting and walking through the country makes me happy. When I look at the distant hills I can feel my grandmother. Bush flowers are everywhere.
Painting and printing my grandmother’s country reminds about those times.
“Bush medicine plants are used for healing on the body and for drinking. We make this by grinding the plants with a rock, we use the juice and the fibre of the plant.
We collect bush medicine plants when we are out hunting. Different kinds of plants grow during different seasons.
There are lots of different medicines, we know what their stories are, we learnt them from our parents and we teach these stories to our children.”
Bush medicine knowledge is still strong in Ampilatwatja, it continues to be passed down to the younger generations and is widely used.
When the women go hunting they often gather bush medicine. The plants depicted here are found in the country around Ampilatwatja, they are used for soothing skin infections and to make a drink to help with colds and coughs.
Painting bush medicine stories is important because it helps to maintain a strong knowledge and culture for the community.
After we have big rain the land is full of flowers and the river is full of water. This makes me happy.
This place is our hunting place. I always go with my daughters and their children, I show them this place and teach them about the swampy country. We hunt for goannas, bush potato, bush tomato and after the big rain the bush medicine is picked and the roots are dug up to be used.
It is important as my mother taught me this and now I teach my family.”
When I go looking for bush medicine I look around the ground and under the rocks. That is where I will find it
Walking across my land to look for bush flowers and goanna. I bring home to make medicine for my family and cook the goanna for dinner. Goanna is my favourite to eat.
Shardia is the daughter of Julieanne Ngwarraye Morton, grandaughter of Lilly Kemarre Morton both senior artists of Ampilatwatja, Lilly was part of the Utopian Batik movement in the 1980’s and is a respected elder of the community. Her Grandfather was Banjo Pitjara Morton.
Shardia depicts her country with great joy, a style influenced by her family but with her own distinct fresh palette.
Bush flowers grow seasonally in Alyawarre country, some of which are also used in bush medicine remedies. The artists of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.
“This is my Father’s country.
This place is our hunting place. I always go with my daughters and their children, I show them this place and teach them about the swampy country. We hunt for goannas, bush potato, bush tomato and after the big rain the bush medicine is picked and the roots are dug up to be used.
It is important as my mother taught me this and now I teach my family.”
This place is our hunting place. I always go with my daughters and their children, I show them this place and teach them about the swampy country. We hunt for goannas, bush potato, bush tomato and after the big rain the bush medicine is picked and the roots are dug up to be used.
It is important as my mother taught me this and now I teach my family.”
The inap awangk (echidna) goes hunting, it is looking for termites around the ant hills, it makes it easy for us to find them when we look for the termite hills