Shire of East Pilbara (Martumili Artists)

---

---

Bush Tucker (Luunki)

“I make a painting and it’s a wild bush flower, desert flower! And bush tucker. I do painting for bush tucker and wild flower.” 

– Danita Wise 

Depicted in this work are a combination of desert flowers and traditional types of mayi (plant food).

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, and hunting and gathering bush tucker remains equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally.

Popular mayi includes minyarra (bush onion), collected from small, grass like plants; root vegetables dug from underground such as kulyu and mata (types of bush potato); and seeds such as kalaru (samphire, salt bush), yuwinyji, and marnkalpa (spinifex species). Jawirli (quondong), wamurla (bush tomatoes), jinyjiwirrily (wild gooseberry), ngaputa (melon), and karlkula (bush banana) are some of the most popular bush fruits. These are often collected in the wantajarra (cool season) and tuulpara (spring) months, along with juri (sweet) botanical gums and wama (nectar), obtained from various plant species. 

Danita, through her work, acknowledges the intrinsic value of the remarkably diverse flora found through Martu Country. These plants are not only vital as significant food sources, but also celebrated for their aesthetic splendour. In the context of the often harsh and arid environments in which desert flowers bloom, their vibrancy, delicacy, and variation become even more spectacular. 

---

---

Wildflower

“I make a painting and it’s a wild bush flower, desert flower! And bush tucker. I do painting for bush tucker and wild flower.” 

– Danita Wise 

Depicted in this work are a combination of desert flowers and traditional types of mayi (plant food).

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, and hunting and gathering bush tucker remains equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally.

Popular mayi includes minyarra (bush onion), collected from small, grass like plants; root vegetables dug from underground such as kulyu and mata (types of bush potato); and seeds such as kalaru (samphire, salt bush), yuwinyji, and marnkalpa (spinifex species). Jawirli (quondong), wamurla (bush tomatoes), jinyjiwirrily (wild gooseberry), ngaputa (melon), and karlkula (bush banana) are some of the most popular bush fruits. These are often collected in the wantajarra (cool season) and tuulpara (spring) months, along with juri (sweet) botanical gums and wama (nectar), obtained from various plant species. 

Danita, through her work, acknowledges the intrinsic value of the remarkably diverse flora found through Martu Country. These plants are not only vital as significant food sources, but also celebrated for their aesthetic splendour. In the context of the often harsh and arid environments in which desert flowers bloom, their vibrancy, delicacy, and variation become even more spectacular. 

---

---

Wildflower

“I make a painting and it’s a wild bush flower, desert flower! And bush tucker. I do painting for bush tucker and wild flower.” 

– Danita Wise 

Depicted in this work are a combination of desert flowers and traditional types of mayi (plant food).

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, and hunting and gathering bush tucker remains equally valuable as an important cultural practice that is passed on intergenerationally.

Popular mayi includes minyarra (bush onion), collected from small, grass like plants; root vegetables dug from underground such as kulyu and mata (types of bush potato); and seeds such as kalaru (samphire, salt bush), yuwinyji, and marnkalpa (spinifex species). Jawirli (quondong), wamurla (bush tomatoes), jinyjiwirrily (wild gooseberry), ngaputa (melon), and karlkula (bush banana) are some of the most popular bush fruits. These are often collected in the wantajarra (cool season) and tuulpara (spring) months, along with juri (sweet) botanical gums and wama (nectar), obtained from various plant species. 

Danita, through her work, acknowledges the intrinsic value of the remarkably diverse flora found through Martu Country. These plants are not only vital as significant food sources, but also celebrated for their aesthetic splendour. In the context of the often harsh and arid environments in which desert flowers bloom, their vibrancy, delicacy, and variation become even more spectacular. 

---

---

Kil-Kil (Kilykily, Canning Stock Route, Well 36)

Kil-kil (Kilykily, Canning Stock Route Well 36) is a well located northeast of Kunawarritji Aboriginal Community. The site is known for its abundance of yuwinyji (Woollybutt grass), from which seeds were collected as a food source. 

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 (Dreaming) narratives. 

The intersection of the Canning Stock Route with Kil-kil 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 (desert dwellers) 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.

---

---

Jupurrl

“This one a yinta (permanent springs) in my ngurra (home Country, camp), Jupurrl. It’s kakarra (east) of Kulyakartu and kayili (north) side of Wirnpa. I was a married woman when I was walking around this place, pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) time. I married a good man. There’s lots of kapi (water) there. Lots of yukari (green grass, vegetation). Plenty of bushtucker, pussycat and goanna. There’s no kapi when you first get there, but you dig him up and then there’s lots of kapi. We’ve got to take all the kids to that ngurra. Show them my daddy’s ngurra. There’s another waterhole, not far from there called Jakapinka. A jila (snake) made that kapi. It’s my brother’s Country.”

– Yikartu Bumba

 

During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, Yikartu and her family travelled extensively through this Country. At this time 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. 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 (Dreaming) narratives. 

---

---

Untitled

“I like painting. It’s a good way to learn from the old people and keep the stories going.”

 – Cyril Whyoulter

Cyril Whyoulter is one of the most dynamic and exciting practitioners to emerge from the youngest generation of Martumili Artists. He, like his contemporaries, began to paint with his parents, grandparents and extended family, thus fostering an organic process of learning not only about painting techniques, but also specific locations, family histories, traditional ways of life, and Jukurrpa (Dreaming). He has been a key driving force behind a number of major collaborative projects that have promoted the transfer of cultural knowledge through visual arts, including exhibitions; Pujiman (Desert dwelling, traditional) and Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25).

Stylistically Cyril’s work melds traditional, contemporary, and experimental elements, demonstrating the development of his own aesthetic while continuing to reflect the powerful influence of his elders. Cyril first began drawing with his grandfather Larry Patterson, and later began painting with his mother, Betty Whyoulter, and grandmother and renowned Martumili artist, Bugai Whyoulter. Having collaborated with and worked alongside Bugai in particular, her influence is most readily identifiable in his work.

Frequently depicted in Cyril’s paintings are Jukurrpa narratives, Jila Kujarra (Two Snakes) and Wati Kujarra (Two Goanna Men), as well as various sites forming part of his family’s ngurra (home Country, camp). These sites encompass a large tract of land, ranging from the south western edge of the Karlamilyi (Rudall River) region through to Wantili, and north to the area surrounding Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route Well 33).  

---

---

Nyilangkurr

Nyilangkurr is a group of three large tali (sandhills) located between Kartarru (Canning Stock Route Well 24) and Tiwa (Canning Stock Route 26), and just east of Wantili, an important creation site.

The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, and yet these lands and the location of resources within them was known intimately by its pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) inhabitants. At this time, Martu traversed very large distances annually in small family groups, moving from water source to water source through the harsh desert landscape with incredible stamina and resourcefulness. Travel was often undertaken at night, and when travelling during the day, Martu wore yakipiri (woven bark sandals) to protect their feet from the hot desert sand.

---

---

Nyilangkurr

Nyilangkurr is a group of three large tali (sandhills) located between Kartarru (Canning Stock Route Well 24) and Tiwa (Canning Stock Route 26), and just east of Wantili, an important creation site.

The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, and yet these lands and the location of resources within them was known intimately by its pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) inhabitants. At this time, Martu traversed very large distances annually in small family groups, moving from water source to water source through the harsh desert landscape with incredible stamina and resourcefulness. Travel was often undertaken at night, and when travelling during the day, Martu wore yakipiri (woven bark sandals) to protect their feet from the hot desert sand.

---

---

Nyilangkurr

Nyilangkurr is a group of three large tali (sandhills) located between Kartarru (Canning Stock Route Well 24) and Tiwa (Canning Stock Route 26), and just east of Wantili, an important creation site.

The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, and yet these lands and the location of resources within them was known intimately by its pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) inhabitants. At this time, Martu traversed very large distances annually in small family groups, moving from water source to water source through the harsh desert landscape with incredible stamina and resourcefulness. Travel was often undertaken at night, and when travelling during the day, Martu wore yakipiri (woven bark sandals) to protect their feet from the hot desert sand.

---

---

Pitu (Separation Well)

“Pitu (Separation Well) is my grandfather’s Country, Wikiri is my nanna’s country, GJ (Georgia) Bore is my mama’s country and in the middle is Wantili.

I’m painting the Country. My grandmother and grandfather was from this Country. They walked around eating, hunting, making fire from the spinifex on this Country.

You can see all the way through; GJ Bore to Pitu, with Wantili in the middle. Ngayuku ngurra (my home Country, camp). That’s my home.”

– Brett Bidu

In this work Brett depicts his ngurra. The Western Desert term ‘ngurra’ is hugely versatile in application. Broadly denoting birthplace and belonging, ngurra can refer to a body of water, a camp site, a large area of Country, or even a modern house. People identify with their ngurra in terms of specific rights and responsibilities, and the possession of intimate knowledge of the physical and cultural properties of one’s Country. This knowledge is traditionally passed intergenerationally through family connections. Country for Martu is full of memory; not just the memory of their own movement through it, but also of their family. 

Painting ngurra, and in so doing sharing the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) stories and physical characteristics of that place, has today become an important means of cultural maintenance. Physical maintenance of one’s ngurra, like cultural maintenance, ensures a site’s wellbeing, and is a responsibility of the people belonging to that area.  

Pitu is an important cultural site and large soak located yulparirra (south) of Wuranu (Canning Stock Route Well 29) and Kulilu rockhole and soak. As a site where fresh water was available all year, Pitu was an important camp and a meeting place for Kartujarra and Manyjilyjarra people during the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era.

Wikiri (Midway Well) is a large soak and claypan located southeast of Parnngurr Aboriginal community. A windmill has been built at the site to access the permanent underground water available there. The many foods and seeds found at Wikiri were left by ancestors in the Jukurrpa (Dreaming), Wirnpa and Jaramarra, rainmaking snakes that now reside around the Great Sandy Desert’s Percival Lakes region, and at the northernmost boundary of Martu Country.

Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) is a large round jurnu (soak) and linyji (claypan) near Well 25 on the Canning Stock Route. It is also an incredibly important cultural site, ‘where the creation started.’ (Cyril Whyoulter). The area is dominated by claypans surrounded by tuwa (sandhills), and Nyilangkurr, a prominent yapu (hill) is located on the edge of the claypan. Following rain the typically dry claypans are filled with water, with the overflow from nearby waterholes flowing to Wantili. At that time, Wantili becomes an important place for obtaining fresh water for drinking and bathing. Wantili is significant for the fact that at this site Kartujarra, Manyjilyjarra, Putijarra and Warnman people would all come together for ceremonies during the pujiman era. Many jiwa (stones used by women for grinding seeds) from these times can still be found there today.