Description
The ancestral Djaŋ’kawu Sisters travelled from Rirratjiŋu country at Yalaŋbarra on the east Arnhem Land mainland, to the Djapu clan lands further south, where they sing with biḻma (clapsticks) and yiḏaki (didgeridoo). They then travel west, first to the Ḏäṯiwuy clan lands and then on to Gärriyak, south of Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island). The Garrawurra sing two songs about them with biḻma. They aren’t really songs, they are stories.
Wherever they stopped, the Djaŋ’kawu Sisters changed their language, names, clan, ceremony and customs. They gave these things to the people at each place. They also made Gapu Milminydjarrk or Milŋurr (water holes) by poking their dhoṉa (digging sticks) into the ground. Some of these waters are sacred but some are alright to drink from.
This painting is about the Milminydjarrk on the artist’s mother country, the country of his mother’s Garrawurra clan, Gärriyak. The sister Barraṯawuy and Dhalkurrŋawuy made the waterholes there, as represented by the roundels in this work. The semi-circular shapes on either side are yunuŋali (oysters).
The Sisters gave miku (red), watharr (white) and buthalak (yellow) ochre colours for Garrawurra people to paint with. They are used in the Ŋärra law ceremony, which is a cleansing ceremony. These designs also refer to the Garrawurra clan totem animals, Nyoka (crab), Weḏu (freshwater catfish), Buwaṯa (Bush Turkey), Ŋaṯili (Red-tailed Black Cockatoo), Worrutj (Red-collared lorikeet) and Djirriḏiḏi (Forest Kingfisher). You can see the three colours striped across the top and bottom of the painting.
In this work the artist has left the bark visible as negative space. He explains that this is how his ancestors used to paint. He says he is making this style new again.
Adapted from story recorded in 2022 by Joe Dhamanydji with Salome Harris.
