Cherylyn Napangardi Granites, Nguru Yurntumu-wana (Country around Yuendumu), 30x30cm

• Artist - Cherylyn Napangardi Granites
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 5345/17
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang

This painting depicts the natural landscape around Yuendumu. The bush around Yuendumu features plenty of ‘watiya’ (trees), ‘marna’ (grass), ‘kuyu’ (animals) to hunt, and ‘miyi’ (edible plants) to gather.

There are a number of beautiful natural features close to Yuendumu, including rocky hills, creeks, soakages, and waterholes. There are also a number of small outstations around Yuendumu. These include Yuwali (Bean Tree), Wakurlpa, Purturlu (Mt. Theo), Jirla (Chilla Well), Yarripirlangu, Wayililinpa, and many more.

There are many sites around Yuendumu that are associated with different ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreamings). These sites include a major ‘yunkaranyi Jukurrpa’ (honey ant Dreaming), which travels from the west to the east. Yuendumu is sometimes also called ‘yurrampi’ (honey ant) for this reason.

A very big ‘ngapa Jukurrpa’ (water Dreaming) travels past Yuendumu from the south far to the north. This Jukurrpa stops at Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu, and at Jukajuka, an important rock formation. ‘Warlukurlangu Jukurrpa’ (fire country Dreaming) lies to the west of Yuendumu, on the way to Nyirrpi. You can see the ‘warlu’ (fire) in the form of hundreds of red ‘mingkirri’ (termite mounds) that rise out of the ground in this area.

Other Jukurrpa around Yuendumu include a ‘janganpa Jukurrpa’ (brush-tailed possum [Tricosurus vulpecula] Dreaming) associated with the hills to the north, and a ‘yankirri Jukurrpa’ (emu [Dromaius novaehollandiae ] Dreaming) associated with Ngarlikirlangu, a rock formation to the north. A ‘warlawurru Jukurrpa’ (wedge-tailed eagle [Aquila audax] Dreaming) is associated with the Wakurlpa outstation and hills. A very big ‘warna Jukurrpa’ (snake Dreaming) passes through Mijirlparnta (Mission Creek), west of Yuendumu. This Jukurrpa tells the story of a blind and crippled python, Yarripiri, who was carried by the ‘kurdungurlu’ (custodians) of the Jukurrpa from the south to the far north. This Jukurrpa is associated with the important Jardiwarnpa conflict resolution ceremony.

All the sites around Yuendumu are owned and cared for by different skin subsections and are associated with different Jukurrpa. Some people are ‘kirda’ (owners) of the Jukurrpa, and others are ‘kurdungurlu’ (custodians).

In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography can be used to represent the landscape around the area, the Jukurrpa, and other elements. Paintings of Jukurrpa around Yuendumu can include emu tracks, possum tracks, or eagle tracks. Wavy lines are frequently used to represent water or fire, and concentric circles can represent waterholes or camps.

Cherylyn Napangardi Granites was born in 1983 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. She has grown up most of her life in Yuendumu. First attending the local school in Yuendumu, and then Kormilda College, an Aboriginal boarding college in Darwin and finally attending the local Yuendumu High School to finish her schooling. Since leaving school she worked for several years, on and off, as a video and radio broadcaster for PAW Media and Communication, a remote Aboriginal media organization situated at Yuendumu. Chantelle has one daughter, Naomi, born in 2000. Cherylyn has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2005. She paints the Yunkaranyi Jukurrpa (Honey Ant Dreaming), Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Country Dreaming) and Janynki Jukurrpa, stories about country close to Yuendumu. These stories have been passed down from her father’s side and his father’s side for millennia and relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. “I like painting. I like to keep my culture strong. I watched my grandmother, my father’s mother, paint and now when I’m painting it makes me happy, it reminds me of her.” When Cherylyn is not painting she keeps herself busy by cleaning the house and spending time with her family. “We all live close together”.