Margaret Napangardi Brown, Mina Mina Jukurrpa - Ngalyipi, 91x61cm

• Artist - Margaret Napnagardi Brown
• Community - Nyirripi/Kintore  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 719/13ny  
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H91 W61 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork posted un stretched and rolled for safe shipping 
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming) comes from Mina Mina, a very important women’s Dreaming site far to the west of Yuendumu near Lake Mackay and the WA border. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this Dreaming are Napangardi/Napanangka women and Japangardi/Japanangka men; the area is sacred to Napangardi and Napanangka women. There are a number of ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and a ‘maluri’ (clay pan) at Mina Mina.

In the Dreamtime, ancestral women danced at Mina Mina and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks) rose up out of the ground. The women collected the digging sticks and then travelled on to the east, dancing, digging for bush tucker, collecting ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine [Tinospora smilacina]), and creating many places as they went. ‘Ngalyipi’ is a rope-like creeper that grows up the trunks and limbs of trees, including ‘kurrkara’ (desert oak [Allocasuarina decaisneana]). It is used as a ceremonial wrap and as a strap to carry ‘parraja’ (coolamons) and ‘ngami’ (water carriers). ‘Ngalyipi’ is also used to tie around the forehead to cure headaches, and to bind cuts.

The women stopped at Karntakurlangu, Janyinki, Parapurnta, Kimayi, and Munyuparntiparnti, sites spanning from the west to the east of Yuendumu. When they stopped, the women dug for bush foods like ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffle [Elderia arenivaga]). The Dreaming track eventually took them far beyond Warlpiri country. The track passed through Coniston in Anmatyerre country to the east, and then went on to Alcoota and Aileron far to the northeast of Yuendumu and eventually on into Queensland.

In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. In many paintings of this Jukurrpa, sinuous lines are used to represent the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine). Concentric circles are often used to represent the ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffles) that the women have collected, while straight lines can be used to depict the ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).

Margaret Napangardi Brown (1940 – 2013) was born at Mount Doreen Station, an extensive cattle breeding station about 55 km west of Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. She was the eldest of four children. When Margaret was young she travelled with her family around Yuendumu and Nyirripi, where she was shown sites and taught in the traditional way.

Margaret married Pegleg Jampijinpa, a successful Pintupi artist who passed away in early 2006. They lived in Yuendumu and had two children, a daughter and a son. After her husband’s death Margaret moved to Nyirripi, an Aboriginal Community 170 km north-west of Yuendumu, to be close to her daughter, Joy Nangala Brown, who paints for Warlukurlangu Artists.

Margaret painted with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation; an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, from 2005. She painted her Great grand-father’s Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings, which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were passed down to her by her grandfather and her grandfather’s father before him for millennia.

When Margaret was not painting she loved looking after her grandchildren and going hunting.