Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation

Sea Turtle

Wubbunj (Paperbark Canoe) “Wubbunj is our traditional canoe. This design is the old history story of how people came to live in this place we call Maningrida. Two old people were staying on the other side of the saltwater, in Narlarrambarr area. The old people slept in a paper bark Read more…

Dedded Wongkorr (ceremonial dilly bag with feathers) This design depicts a ‘wongkorr’ sacred dilly bag woven with brightly coloured orange parrot feathers called ‘dedded’. It is depicted alongside a digging stick. Wongkorr are used in a number of public ceremonial contexts, and are sacred objects for the Bininj Kunwok speaking Read more…

Makéddja (Turtle) Makéddja means turtle in the Ndjébbana language of the Kunibidji people of Maningrida.    

Stingray This is Debbie Pascoe’s first ever screen print design. Printed as a two colour design. Debbie is from the Djinang language group in Maningrida, which according to the ABS Census has approximately 220 speakers.

Bah-je (hunting bag) 2007 Linda Gurawana is a Djinang speaker and she calls hunting bag or dilly bag bah-je. This design was created in 2007.

Yawkyawk in Stone Country Yawkyawk is a word from the Aboriginal Kunwinjku/Kunwok language, meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, yawkyawks are usually depicted with the tails of fish. They have long hair, associated with trailing blooms of algae, typically found Read more…

Mabbúlarr Mabbúlarr is the Ndjébbana word describing calm and stillness – both regarding people and the ocean. This design tells the story of underwater life in the shallows. The turtle we call marláddja (green turtle, Chelonia mydas) and the stingray we call marnandjúbba (Cowtail Stingray, Pastinachus sephen). ‘When strong wind Read more…

Sea Shells and Dilly Bags ‘Sometimes when we go down to the beach in Maningrida we pick all these shells up. Some family make necklaces and earrings. In the olden days they used to collect shells and put them in the dilly bags. The old people used to carry dilly Read more…

Kakárra (bush flowers)   This design features lost of flowers and bush food from around the coastal areas of Entrance Island and Maningrida. ‘There are the leaves of the black plum – we call that karranganjónganja vita glabrata. There are also jungle flowers that we find when we are looking for Read more…