• Artist: Jacinta Numina
• Title: Thorny Devil Dreaming with Body Paint Design
• Size: 93 x 67cm
• Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
• Languages: Anmatyerre, Kayte & Alywarra
• Region: Utopia, NT
• Outstation: Atnangkere

• Artist: Michael Japaljarri Wayne
• Title: Emu Dreaming
• Size: 122 x 76cm
• Region: Yuendumu
• Art Centre: Warlukurlangu

Biography

Michael Japaljarri Wayne was born in 1985 in the Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west from Alice Springs in the NT of Australia He is the son of Johnny Jungarrayi and Lee Nangala Gallagher-Wayne and the grandson of Mary Napangardi Gallagher, all successful artists working with Warlukurlangu Artists. He watched his parents and grandparents paint their Jukurrpa and listened to their stories. He is married to Ritasha Nampijinpa Martin and has one son, Johnny. He has lived in the Aboriginal Community of Yuendumu his whole life. He attended the local high school where he finished Year 8 in 2001. When he finished school he worked for the Community Development Employment Project (CDPE) and also worked on the Mt Theo Program, a successful program started by Yuendumu Community to address chronic petrol sniffing in Yuendumu. Michael has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2003. He paints his father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings which related directly to his land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to him by his father and his father’s father before him for millennia. When he is not painting or working he enjoys playing football with the local Yuendumu team and hunting for goanna and kangaroo.

Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) – Ngarlikirlangu

This painting depicts a ‘yankirri Jukurrpa’ (emu [Dromaius novaehollandiae] Dreaming) from a place called Ngarlikurlangu, approximately 50kms north of Yuendumu. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this Dreaming are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. 

This Jukurrpa tells the story of a ‘yankirri’ (emu) and a ‘wardilyka’ (bush turkey [Ardeotis australis]). ‘Yankirri’ lived at a soakage to the west called Warnirripanu (or Walangkamirirri), while ‘wardilyka’ lived at a soakage to the east called Parirri.  The emu and bush turkey used to go around the country picking ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisins [Solanum centrale]) and mashing them into ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) to save in their nests for later. However, they were jealous of each other; the emu thought that the bush turkey was picking the best and juiciest ‘yakajirri’, and was leaving him with only the sour ‘yakajirri’.

The emu went to the bush turkey’s nest to the east while the bush turkey was out hunting and smashed up the ‘kapurdu’ that the bush turkey had saved there. When the bush turkey returned, he found his smashed ‘yakajirri’ balls and realized that the emu had destroyed them. He went to the west to confront the emu and when he found him, they got into a big fight. The bush turkey eventually flew away to the north, leaving behind the smashed ‘yakajirri’ balls.

This practice of making ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) is a traditional Warlpiri method of storing ‘yakajirri’; in the old days, people used to dry the ‘yakajirri’, grind them up with a rock in a coolamon, mix them with water and form balls from them, and cover the ‘kapurdu’ with red ochre so they would keep.

Today at Ngarlikirlangu we can see round, red rocks which are the ‘kapurdu’ that the emu smashed up. There is also a dance for this ‘yankirri’ (emu) Jukurrpa that is performed during mens’ initiation ceremonies. A number of other Jukurrpa are also located at Ngarlikirlangu, including ‘wardilyka Jukurrpa’ (bush turkey Dreaming), ‘yardijiinypa Jukurrpa’ (meat ant Dreaming), and ‘pirntina Jukurrpa’ (woma or Ramsay’s python [Aspidites ramsayi] Dreaming). Lots of ‘yakajirri’ grow around the Ngarlikirlangu area today.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography can be used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites, and other elements. ‘Yankirri’ are usually represented by arrow-like shapes depicting their ‘wirliya’ (footprints) as they walk around.

• Artist: Bernadette Mungatopi
• Title: Jilamara Design
• Size: 85cm x 63cm
• Region: Milikapiti
• Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Bernadette undertook most of her secondary schooling at Kormilda College in 1987, then went on to complete year 11 at Slade College in Warwick (Brisbane). After returning to  (Snake Bay), Bernadette took up a job at the Womens Centre cooking for the elderly in 2000. She moved to Pirlangimpi with her partner Robert Puruntatameri and their 4 kids. Bernadette started working at the Pirlangimpi Pottery studio in 2004 along with Robert who is a known potter and carver. Bernadette began painting at Munupi in 2005, experimenting with natural ochres on canvas, as well as Acrylic on canvas and her works have been shown in our recent exhibitions.

• Artist: Jeffrey Jangala Gallagher
• Title: Emu Dreaming
• Size: 91 x 46cm
• Region: Yuendumu
• Art Centre: Warlukurlangu

Biography

Jeffrey Jangala Gallagher was born in 1970 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. He was born into a family of well-known Warlukurlangu artists. In 1978 he moved to Nyirripi with his family, where he attended the local school.

Jeffrey began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu and Nyirripi in 2021. He paints his father’s and grandfather’s Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) – Ngarlikirlangu and Lukarrara Jukurrpa (Desert Fringe-rush Seed Dreaming), Jukurrpa stories relating directly to his land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. The have been passed down through the generations for millennia. He uses an unrestricted palette, blending his own patterns with ancestral motifs to depict his traditional Jukurrpa.

When not working, or painting, he loves to play sport and hunt with his family and friends.

Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) – Ngarlikirlangu

This painting depicts a ‘yankirri Jukurrpa’ (emu [Dromaius novaehollandiae] Dreaming) from a place called Ngarlikurlangu, approximately 50kms north of Yuendumu. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this Dreaming are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. 

This Jukurrpa tells the story of a ‘yankirri’ (emu) and a ‘wardilyka’ (bush turkey [Ardeotis australis]). ‘Yankirri’ lived at a soakage to the west called Warnirripanu (or Walangkamirirri), while ‘wardilyka’ lived at a soakage to the east called Parirri.  The emu and bush turkey used to go around the country picking ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisins [Solanum centrale]) and mashing them into ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) to save in their nests for later. However, they were jealous of each other; the emu thought that the bush turkey was picking the best and juiciest ‘yakajirri’, and was leaving him with only the sour ‘yakajirri’.

The emu went to the bush turkey’s nest to the east while the bush turkey was out hunting and smashed up the ‘kapurdu’ that the bush turkey had saved there. When the bush turkey returned, he found his smashed ‘yakajirri’ balls and realized that the emu had destroyed them. He went to the west to confront the emu and when he found him, they got into a big fight. The bush turkey eventually flew away to the north, leaving behind the smashed ‘yakajirri’ balls.

This practice of making ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) is a traditional Warlpiri method of storing ‘yakajirri’; in the old days, people used to dry the ‘yakajirri’, grind them up with a rock in a coolamon, mix them with water and form balls from them, and cover the ‘kapurdu’ with red ochre so they would keep.

Today at Ngarlikirlangu we can see round, red rocks which are the ‘kapurdu’ that the emu smashed up. There is also a dance for this ‘yankirri’ (emu) Jukurrpa that is performed during mens’ initiation ceremonies. A number of other Jukurrpa are also located at Ngarlikirlangu, including ‘wardilyka Jukurrpa’ (bush turkey Dreaming), ‘yardijiinypa Jukurrpa’ (meat ant Dreaming), and ‘pirntina Jukurrpa’ (woma or Ramsay’s python [Aspidites ramsayi] Dreaming). Lots of ‘yakajirri’ grow around the Ngarlikirlangu area today.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography can be used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites, and other elements. ‘Yankirri’ are usually represented by arrow-like shapes depicting their ‘wirliya’ (footprints) as they walk around.

• Artist: Dr Faye Parriman, Natasha Lloyd, Celina Lloyd, Leticia Lloyd, Jessica Lloyd
• Title: Beyond Everlasting Ugudungu
• Size: 152cm x 145cm
• Medium: Acrylic on Canvas 
• Region: Mullewa WA

Due to the large size of this piece, shipping is $200 to capital cities within Australia. If insurance is required, please email info@aboriginalbushtraders.com to arrange payment. 

Beyond Everlasting Ugudungu
By Dr Faye Parriman, Natasha Lloyd, Celina Lloyd, Leticia Lloyd and Jessica Lloyd

My name is Faye Parriman. I am a Noongar and Yamatji woman from Western Australia, born in the small town of Mullewa. When I was a little child, I was taken from my family and placed at Tardun Mission, where I grew up. Tardun became my home, but being separated from my family and Country at such a young age was deeply sad and upsetting.

At the mission, Sundays were special. We would be loaded onto a truck or bus and taken out into the bush. Those few hours on Country gave us freedom, joy and a sense of belonging. We would wander through the landscape looking for bush tucker, and when the wildflowers were in bloom, we would head straight for the fields of everlasting daisies and pom-poms.

I still remember seeing those endless carpets of flowers from the bus windows and calling out, “There! We want to go there — look at all the pom-poms and everlastings!” As soon as the bus stopped, we would run through the fields, rolling among the flowers, picking them, making jewellery, laughing and playing together. We made headbands, necklaces and bangles from the flowers because we had nothing else. Those moments brought us happiness and helped us survive the hardships of mission life.

Among the everlasting flowers were spider orchids, hidden beneath shrubs and small trees. Sometimes there would be only one orchid, sometimes a small cluster. They were scattered across the landscape, never easy to find, and they became my favourite flower. In this painting, the orchids appear scattered throughout the composition, just as they appeared in Country when I was a child.

For many years, those memories remained locked away in my heart.

More than twenty years ago, I was sitting there trying to think about what to paint. My son-in-law said to me, “Paint your story.”

That simple suggestion changed everything.

For a long time, I had been afraid to paint the wildflowers because doing so meant revisiting memories that were painful and deeply emotional. But I finally gathered the courage to put those memories onto canvas. I called that first painting Everlasting Memories.

When I finished it, I cried.

When I sold it, I cried again.

Those tears marked the beginning of a healing journey. Through painting, I began releasing the memories I had carried for so long. The wildflowers helped me reconnect with Country, culture, family and myself. They carried the colours, beauty and spirit of the Country I remembered as a child. They brought me home.

Beyond Everlasting Ugudungu continues that journey.

This work was created collaboratively with my daughter, Natasha Lloyd, and my granddaughters, Celina Lloyd, Leticia Lloyd and Jessica Lloyd. Together, we painted this artwork, each brushstroke and dot carrying our connection as women, artists, mothers, daughters and granddaughters. It is a story that moves across three generations.

As part of this journey, we returned to my Country together. We walked through the landscapes that inspired my earliest paintings and visited the places where the everlasting flowers bloom. The young women experienced the Country for themselves, seeing not only the flowers but also the strength, resilience and love that lives within that land.

We also travelled to Kalbarri, part of my traditional Country, where I was able to reconnect with the lands of my grandmothers and great-grandparents. Standing on those ancestral lands alongside my daughter and granddaughters was a powerful experience. The girls saw the beauty of the wildflowers, but they also witnessed the deeper stories held within the landscape.

They fell in love with the Country.

Now they return whenever they can.

What began as my personal healing journey has become a shared family journey. The stories, knowledge and connection to Country continue to grow through each generation. It is important that these stories are handed down so that my grandchildren can continue telling them, painting them, and sharing them with future generations.

When we painted this work together, the five of us, I felt immense pride and joy. As a grandmother, it means everything to be able to teach my granddaughters how to paint these flowers and understand the stories they carry. Knowing that they now love this Country and these wildflowers as I do gives me hope that these stories will continue long into the future.

Beyond Everlasting Ugudungu is more than a painting of wildflowers.

It is a living story of survival, healing, remembrance and return.

It honours the strength of our ancestors, the resilience of Stolen Generations survivors, and the enduring connection between family and Country. Carried by five artists and three generations of women, this story continues to grow stronger each time we walk back onto Country together.