WARINGARRI ABORIGINAL ARTS

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Two Little Sisters

A rainbow snake travelled from Gimoorl country and created a river going towards Woombanji country (Jamanjoong). There he met up with two sisters and asked the old man if one of the sister was his promised wife, but he refused. He kept both the sisters as his wives he than held them down in the water and then he sunbathe them. He saw a honey sucker and asked him for tucker for us but he didn’t listen he flew away (the honeysucker) the honeysucker dived in the water and had his own food. The old man asked him again but ignored them. He then saw two brolgas and asked them to empty the river with the coolamans They did that then the honey sucker came back he dived straight in the river but there was no water and he hit the bottom. He wondered where all the water had gone, But the two brolgas took all the water from the river and flying around on top in two coolaman the honeysucker then saw a frog in the dry creek bed. He told the frog the brolgas took all the water away from the river in both coolamans he then made a spear and speared both. The coolaman and the waters both poured down and filled the riverbed with water again. There was a small bat hanging around he the old man there with his two wives he followed them back to Gimoorl where they stayed in a cave. As the old man and his wives where asleep the bat made a spear and speared the old man and the two wives fled back upstream and formed into two hills the hills stand there today.

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History Beneath the Beauty

Woorrilbem holds a history. A blast from my grandmother’s past as a child she went to this billabong to collect the lily flowers, its bulb, mussels and other edible bush food to take back to her family. One particular day on a usual walk she saw two strange men way off in the distance. A manager on horse back and a black tracker leading a donkey with a sack on its back. They were tracking Aboriginal, Miriwoong people to work for the manager at the station. As the men came closer, my grandmother slipped into the billabong to hide until the men were out of sight. My grandmother then got out and started running as fast as she could back to her family, but it was too late as the strange men were already approaching the camp. With mixed emotions my grandmother spoke and pointed at the same time to the strange men, but the black tracker spoke in Miriwoong language and said they were friendly people looking for workers to work at the station for sugar, tea and tobacco as rations and brought flour to make bread as a peace offering, Some Miriwoong people did go to work for the strange manager man. My grandmother and her family stayed on country. If we don’t carry this story and tell our children the history of Woorrilbem and its beauty will take over and my grandmother’s Country will be lost and forgotten forever. The different coloured lily pads are my grandmothers emotions flowering through the billabong. The green lily pads are the original colours covering the history of my grandmother’s story. The straight lines represents the calm relaxing billabong before my grandmother entered the water.

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Green Turtle (Juluwarru)

Juluwarru is the most common saltwater turtle and is very good for food, it is the main species the people still eat.The large adults contain a lot of meat, and everything is eaten including the, the flippers, the intestines and the tasty fat.

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Boab Tree (Joomooloony) of the Kimberley

The boab tree is a tree that we have lots of in the Kimberley region in Australia. It’s a symbol of our country and the nuts that grow on it has food in it when you break it open. It is also used for medicine when soaked in water for colds and coughs. 

We do engrave carvings on them and painting of them, because it’s part of our history and culture. 

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Dingo Dreaming

This painting tells a story of “a large spirit dog”. The dog was passing through my fathers country (Woojarr) and decided to stay for couple of days before following the river (Angillary) up to Katherine where along the way creating country as he passed through. The dog eventually made his way to Alice Springs where he stayed for good.

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Goonoonoorra

This is my mother’s country and traditional country for Miriwoong people. The name of this place is Goornoonoorra. In my language Miriwong, this name means Big Waters. In the old days we all lived here and walked this country looking for bush tucker. We used to have corroboree at Thethebelung (the Sleeping Buddha) beside Goonoonoorra (the Ord River).In the center of the painting the hill is called Thegoowiyeng – (Kelly’s Knob).My grandparents grew me up near the Nemoowalem ( the Ivanhoe Ranges) and we lived under the boab trees. In this painting you can see the Mirima Community where all the humpy camps are. The town camp is where all the whitefellas who built Kununurra lived. This is where the town houses are today.

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Black Rock Falls

This painting shows Black Rock Falls. During the wet season – flood water time – this was our camp spot. We would camp up on the hillsides to keep dry form the rains and the rising flood waters of the Ord River. When the waterfalls are flowing you couldn’t get to town because of the rivers and creeks overflowing. There is lots of bush tucker here and a swimming hole. We eat this bush tucker. I spent a lot of my growing up years here.

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Binjin & Jarnem

In this painting the artist represents the billabong country on either side of Moonoomoorrem – the Keep River. Binjin is her mother’s traditional country and Jarnem is her uncle’s country. Only the billabongs are shown here and not the river that flows through the country.

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White Gum Tree

The red sap is good medicine to treat skin sores. It is crushed and boiled in water to make it soft, then rubbed on the sore to help with healing. It is also mixed with ochre for painting. The wood is good for fires and produces coals that last a long time. It is also good for making message sticks. The bark burns to a fine white ash that is mixed with chewing tobacco.