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Blue Gum Tree (Ganyji )
Blue Gum Tree (Ganyji) The Blue Gum Tree, gets its name because of its bluish leaves. In Yindjibarndi language it is called Ganyji, in English, Kanji Bush (Acacia pyrifolia).This painting depicts elements of the bush – its blue leaves and yellow flowers against the red and green of the earth. When the rain comes, or when there has been a heavy dew, the Blue Gum Tree just shimmers in the light. In September, when we are looking for gum from the Blue Gum Tree, we walk through the spinifex country. We pick the gum when it is crystal coloured, and we eat it, or put it into hot water and leave it out in the sun to make it like a toffee. We call it sugar lolly.
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Sturt Pea
The Sturt Pea has a vibrant red flower.It has a succulent sweet juice that can be eaten.
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Pilbara Colours of the Rocks – ochres
These are the plants and wildflowers that make our Pilbara. The bloom shows time and season.
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Travelling through Country
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Purple Mulla Mulla
Purple Mulla Mulla grows among the grasses, blending beautifully with the bushes.
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spinifex in wildflower season
Our country is covered with spinifex. In the old days our elders would grind the spinifex seeds to make flour to make into damper. The resin from the spinifex can be used to make glue. The kangaroos also find shelter among the spinifex bushes, to hide themselves from hunters.
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Biyulu (Yellow Ochre)
Biyulu (yellow ochre) is used during law ceremony. Every year during christmas season, familes from far and wide communities come and share that exciting moment where our young boys goes through the law and during that time family meet one another, catching up, being together and celebrating where our young boys through the birdarra law become men. They are no longer classed as teenagers.
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Emu Seed
In this painting the artist has depicted the pods of a shrub which is common in the Pilbara area. It is a smallish bush which comes into seed in September, when the Emu is visible in the Milky Way. This is the time the emu chicks hatch and it is one of their main sources of food. When the pod opens the emu parents feed the little black seeds to their chicks. The seed pod, which is about the size and shape of a cockroach, turns from orange to yellow, so when all the bushes are in pod at different stages, there is a brilliant display of orange and yellow colours throughout the country. The official name of this annual shrub is Senna notabilis, but, due to the oblong, flat shape and the glossy golden brown colour of its pods, it is commonly known as Cockroach Bush. It has a little round fruit, a berry that starts off green and turns red when it is ripe, but it’s poisonous. The shrub starts off as a light green colour and then, as it matures, it gets darker. The flowers are a yellowy orange and they, too, get darker with a bit of black as they are fading away.
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Pilbara Creeks
During the rainy season many creeks are hidden among the rocky hills of the Pilbara country. The locals from this area like fishing on the banks of the creeks, catching many different varieties of fish.