The Philosophy of Water: Baluka, Galuma & Napawarri
Past exhibition
Napuwarri Marawili
Yathikpa
natural earth pigment on bark
93 x 58 cm
788445
Baraltja is the residence of Burrut'tji (also known as Mundukul) the lightning serpent. It is an area of flood plains that drain into northern Blue Mud Bay. It is on...
Baraltja is the residence of Burrut'tji (also known as Mundukul) the lightning serpent. It is an area of flood plains that drain into northern Blue Mud Bay. It is on country belonging to the Madarrpa and denotes an area of special qualities pertaining to fertility and the mixing of waters. From the Madarrpa (and Dhalwanu clan) land freshwater spreads onto the Baraltja flood plains with the onset of the wet. A tidal creek into the Bay flows with the freshwater flushing brackish mix into the sea over an ever shifting sandbar (the snake manifest).
This flushing of freshwater excites Burrut'tji to stand on its tail spitting lightning in the directions from where the weather comes from. Wanupini or thunderheads are seen flicking lightning on the horizon in the deep water named Munurru connecting with Madarrpa ancestors of the Dhiliyalyal tribe who lived at Boway Nipanwuy further down the coast. This ancestral kinship tie is linked over sea country as well as land and a cycle of events that also connect by lightning wind and rain has it so. The could is sung as femininity and fecundity, pregnant with life-giving freshwater.
So as a harpoon travels or does lightning the estates are connected spiritually in a multidimensional way - both to and from, a cyclic phenomenon which is chronicled in the sacred song that narrate these Ancestral actions over land, through sea and ether. It is worth noting that Yolnu 'science' portrays this energy burst as coming up from the land which is now recognised by western science as the precursor to downward lightning strikes.
The open ended strings of diamonds marks the classic miny'tji of the saltwater estate of Yathikpa. Here Baru the ancestral crocodile, carrying and being burnt by the Ancestral fire crossed the beach from Garranali (crocodile's nest) and entered the saltwater. Baru decided after being soothed of his burns that he would stay in these waters. His sacred powers in line with that of the fire imbues the water there today.
Later from the same beach Ancestral Hunters on seeing Dugong took their hunting harpoon and canoe out to the sea of Yathikpa in pursuit. The hunters were lured too close to a dangerous rock by the dugong seeking shelter. The dugong here feed on the Gamata, a sea grass that is a manifestation of flames on the sea bed. Wavy ribbons of seagrass sway in the sunlit water. Fire at this sacred site boiled the water capsizing the canoe. This sometimes called ancestral tide and it is speculated that this is the oral tradition of an ancient tsunami which initiates death and founds existing mortuary ceremonies in the region like the sacred sand sculpture Yinapunapu which is a canoe shaped space which holds the contamination of decay at bay. The sacred harpoon changed into Dhakandjali the hollow log coffin/memorial pole that floats on the seas of Yathikpa and further afield within Blue Mud Bay, its directions connecting other Yirritja clans (Mangalili and Dhalwanu) through association of kin across the mud bay in the same way that the electrical connection between their relative lightning serpents.
These events are sung today at Yirritja ceremony and the 'deep' names of Yathikpa intoned by Djerrakay, (ritual specialists).
This flushing of freshwater excites Burrut'tji to stand on its tail spitting lightning in the directions from where the weather comes from. Wanupini or thunderheads are seen flicking lightning on the horizon in the deep water named Munurru connecting with Madarrpa ancestors of the Dhiliyalyal tribe who lived at Boway Nipanwuy further down the coast. This ancestral kinship tie is linked over sea country as well as land and a cycle of events that also connect by lightning wind and rain has it so. The could is sung as femininity and fecundity, pregnant with life-giving freshwater.
So as a harpoon travels or does lightning the estates are connected spiritually in a multidimensional way - both to and from, a cyclic phenomenon which is chronicled in the sacred song that narrate these Ancestral actions over land, through sea and ether. It is worth noting that Yolnu 'science' portrays this energy burst as coming up from the land which is now recognised by western science as the precursor to downward lightning strikes.
The open ended strings of diamonds marks the classic miny'tji of the saltwater estate of Yathikpa. Here Baru the ancestral crocodile, carrying and being burnt by the Ancestral fire crossed the beach from Garranali (crocodile's nest) and entered the saltwater. Baru decided after being soothed of his burns that he would stay in these waters. His sacred powers in line with that of the fire imbues the water there today.
Later from the same beach Ancestral Hunters on seeing Dugong took their hunting harpoon and canoe out to the sea of Yathikpa in pursuit. The hunters were lured too close to a dangerous rock by the dugong seeking shelter. The dugong here feed on the Gamata, a sea grass that is a manifestation of flames on the sea bed. Wavy ribbons of seagrass sway in the sunlit water. Fire at this sacred site boiled the water capsizing the canoe. This sometimes called ancestral tide and it is speculated that this is the oral tradition of an ancient tsunami which initiates death and founds existing mortuary ceremonies in the region like the sacred sand sculpture Yinapunapu which is a canoe shaped space which holds the contamination of decay at bay. The sacred harpoon changed into Dhakandjali the hollow log coffin/memorial pole that floats on the seas of Yathikpa and further afield within Blue Mud Bay, its directions connecting other Yirritja clans (Mangalili and Dhalwanu) through association of kin across the mud bay in the same way that the electrical connection between their relative lightning serpents.
These events are sung today at Yirritja ceremony and the 'deep' names of Yathikpa intoned by Djerrakay, (ritual specialists).