Ngalyod – Babbarra Texta
Babbarra Texta TBC
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Wayuk (waterlily) and river moss
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Ngalng (Freshwater Crayfish) – Babbarra Texta
‘This is a story from Mankorlod. This is a djang (creation) story. This is the creation story about the freshwater yabby. Starting with the stone, that’s the raw one and the cooked one. The stone rock suddenly turned to ngalng, in a flash. Ngalng started growing and turned into a body. It’s a magic one and it can change from rock to ngalng to human and back to ngalng. Now it’s a ngalng.
The country is near Mankorlod and Korlobididah. The ngalng is stuck there forever on the rock at Korlobididah.’
‘There is also duruk (camp dog) called Djanbokkon. This is a duruk that comes from water and no one has seen it. This is a true duruk, he goes everywhere in the country. His body is striped. He is a secret dog and he has a secret story.’
Janet Marawarr 2022
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Manbirrbbirr la Kunwardde (yellow flowers and rocks)
In Kuninjku the name manbirrbbirr is used for a number of densely flowering shrubs and small trees including Verticordia cunninghamii, yellow flowering Austromyrtus species and also Acacia platycarpa which also has dense white.
Kunwardde means stone, rock or money in Kuninjku.
This design combines imagery of the country around Mumeka with common dry season bush flowers.
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Marebu – Raylene Bonosn
A ‘marebu’ is a hand-woven mat made of pandanus, often coloured with natural dyes. Marebu can be used as a floor mat, a fence to trap fish in waterways, a shield to cover babies from mosquitoes, a wrap for rinsing food in water, and a ceremonial skirt for women.
‘Marebu (pandanus floor mat) is used by lots of people for lots of things. When people go hunting, they use marebu to sit on and to put all the manme (food) they catch like freshwater fish and cheeky yam. When the people are finished hunting, they can use the marebu to wrap up all the manme (food) and carry it home to cook on the fire. You can put that marebu in the freshwater to wash it. Marebu is also used as a bed to sleep on. This design comes from my mother’s side and is a Kuninjku story.’
Link to ‘marebu’ definition – Njamed.com
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Ngaldjorlhbo (Mother of Everything)
Ngaldjorlhbo is a powerful woman who created the spiritual and tangible world for the Aboriginal people in Western Arnhem Land. In creating the land and environment, she endowed Kuninjku people with the ability to create art, and with their culture, to share with future generations. Ngaldjorlhbo gives women the cultural knowledge and deep links to country, identity and ancestor spirits.
‘Ngaldjorlhbo created daluk (women) When she started walking she started talking and telling stories. She create, came together as one. She was walking, thinking and writing with her hand creating all the animals and trees. Creating mountains and rivers. Came together and made a beautiful flowing wind and river to the coming of the land. From fresh water to the salt water river, all the fish, all kinds of fish she created.
From little bird, big bird she created. She came all the way from east, west, north and south.
She knows all the places from this land. She was speaking, she was telling, she was creating the country, this world.
She was carrying kunmadj and digging stick and she created yawkyawk.
So that’s the story about Ngaldjorlhbo.’
Janet Marawarr 2022
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Djomi (Fresh Water Spirit)
This design depicts the story of the artist’s ancestral dreaming, the Djómi (Fresh Water Spirit).
The Djómi figure is a mermaid-like spirit with fish tail that lives in the freshwater stream that flows out to the sea cliff near Maningrida. Djómi is known to be a very powerful fertility symbol.
“If you go there, you can get pregnant easily. Djómi has babies, and they can give other babies too. The Djómi spirit is so powerful, that women can end up with multiple babies at once, twins or sometimes even more. The Djómi spirits lay eggs near the sacred freshwater stream in Maningrida. Inside the eggs are human babies as well as young Djómi. Men do not go near that swamp, because Djomi is so powerful that men might get pregnant there too. So men are too scared of that Djómi. When we visit the Djómi freshwater spring, we can hear young Djómi crying. They sound like normal babies crying, those Djómi spirits. They are looking for a mother. This Djómi is my dreaming, I got permission from my djungkay (ritual manager) to paint this Djómi design. For me I always ask my djunguy permission to paint, because that is our cultural way. This design also depicts the freshwater lily leaves and seaweed from the base of the sea floor.” Joy Galrbin
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River and Rocks
“This river we call Mangabo. It is near Gudjarrngarrl homeland of my daughters, Deborah and Jennifer Wurrkidj. We cross that river when travelling to Munmoy outstation. In the wet season, that water comes up and covers over those rocks, and when you look down there are rocks all under the water.”
– Helen Lanyinwanga
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Mandjabu
Kuninjku people traditionally make two sorts of conical fish traps. One is called mandjabu and is made from a strong, durable vine called milil, and a smaller one is called manylik mandjabu, and made from the grass manylik. The mandjabuconical fish trap is bigger and stronger and used in tidal reaches of creeks to catch large fish. The smaller, lighter manyliktrap is used in freshwater flowing creeks to catch smaller fish and freshwater prawns. In earlier times, only men were involved in the construction of the large fish traps, but children would often crawl inside and assist.
To make mandjabu, weavers firstly harvest milil (burney vine, Malaisia scandens) and put it in water overnight to make it soft. Then they start weaving it; they make rings for the inside to keep the fish trap’s shape. People also make string from the bark of burdaga (kurrajong) to attach the bardainy (hibiscus) rings and to tie the conical end of the fish trap. It’s hard work and it can take three or four weeks to make a fish trap. People also use fish-net fences called kunkarlewabe. They would put the kunkarlewabe across rivers and creeks. In the middle they would place the mandjabu. They also used small things like sticks, rocks, mud and grass to block the fish from going through. This way we would catch fish such as saltwater barramundi rajarra, ngaldadmurrng (freshwater barramundi), small black freshwater catfish (buliya), bonefish (an-guwirrpiya), and sand bass (dalakan) in the mandjabu.
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Djenj dja Komrdawh (Swordfish and Turtle)
“My country is called Mankorlod. It is near the rock country. My dreaming is komrdawh (long neck turtle), the one I painted in my design. I like to eat komrdaw, it tastes really nice. We catch them in dry and wet season near Mankorlod. This is my first ever design, and I only have one design. I painted it with brush at Babbarra Women’s Centre and I feel proud when people print my design.” Margot Gurawiliwili
The vines depicted in this artwork are used by women to weave and create fibre sculpture. They grow naturally on the floodplains in Arnhem Land. The long-necked turtle and freshwater sword fish depicted are popular bush food.