Jeani Napangardi Lewis, Mina Mina Jukurrpa - Ngalyipi, 122x107cm

• Artist - Jeani Napangardi Lewis
• Community - Nyirripi
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 1202/18ny
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H107 W122 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork is posted un-stretched and rolled for 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).

Jeanie Napangardi Lewis was born around 1950 on Mount Doreen Station, an extensive cattle breeding station in the Northern Territory. Jeanie’s traditional country is Mina Mina, west of Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 kms north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia and close to Mount Doreen Station. Jeanie’s family lived in and around Mina Mina before moving to Yuendumu, and then Nyirrpi where she has lived for many years. She has two sisters, Phyllis and Valerie and two children, a son Eric and a daughter Minnie Napangardi. She is now married to Mickey Jampijinpa Singleton, an artist who also paints with Warlukurlangu Artists. Jeanie has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation since 2005, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. She paints her Dreaming stories but the one that features constantly is Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming). Her paintings are of her country. In her paintings she depicts birds, trees and bush potatoes around small waterholes in Mina Mina. She continues to paint through the art centre whenever she visits Yuedumu from Nyirrip or when canvas and paint is dropped off in Nyirripi for artists working with Warlukurlangu.