Puntawarri – Helen Dale Samson “All around is sandhills and lakes on every side. You can see the grass, but the lakes are all dry. In the middle is Puntawarri waterhole. That’s the jila (snake) place, two jila. They nyupa (spouses), they darlings, man and woman. They sleeping near to Read more…
Dry Season “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you Read more…
Big Rain The significance of kapi (water, rain) in Martu culture is deeply rooted in the historical pujiman (traditional, dersert dwelling) lifestyle. During this era, the knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Read more…
Dry Season “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you Read more…
Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) “Bugai always tells about Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) because she grew up around Wantili. Her family would travel between Wantili, Kaalpa, Juntu-juntu, Raarki, and Wuranu Wells along the Canning Stock Route. She paints around Wantili. She saw whitefellas there for Read more…
Wanti Yuu (Women, Yeah!) “Wanti Yuu (Woman Yeah!) is a story of resilience and of women coming together. It is about the strength of the women in our community who put themselves last and take on a lot. She [Wanti Yuu] is someone who looks after her family, putting the Read more…
Jartuti “There’s two types of cannibal, one that Yunkurra (Billy Atkins) writes about, Ngayurnangalku and one that takes all the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) babies. They jangara (cannibal devil). The jangara’s ngurra (home Country, camp) is near to Jartuti. The jangara, they’ve got their feet backwards. They don’t go the way Read more…
Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) “This is my Grandmother’s [Bugai Whyoulter’s] Country, my Country. Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) is old Law Grounds from Dreaming days and very important to Martu people. My grandmother always tells me about Wantili because she grew up around Wantili. It Read more…
Community Life “They wanted to come back to their home land, their ngurra (home Country, camp). They went and started up Punmu first. And from Punmu they started up Parngurrr, and then they started up Kunawarritji. And every community they started, first building it was the school, school was the Read more…
Yalta “This is my grandmother’s and mother’s Country, Yalta. It’s very close to Kunawarritji side. I’ve never been there. That was where my mother was born during the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) times. All the tali (sandhills) around. I want to go there one day, to see that Country, I Read more…