Mary Napangardi Gallagher, Pikilyi Jukurrpa (Vaughan Springs Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Artist - Mary Napangardi Gallagher
• Community - Nyirripi
• Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 1594/13ny
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5 
• Postage variants - Artwork is posted stretched and ready to hang.

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).

Mary Napangardi Gallagher was born in Napperby, a homestead 120 km from Papunya. When she was a young adult she moved with her family to Yuendumu. She met and married her husband in Yuendumu and later moved to Nyirripi to bring up her five children Ben, Duncan, Richard, Eldy and Rea, and several grandchildren. Mary and her grown-up children still lives in Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community 160 km north-west of Yuendumu. Mary has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2006. Yuendumu is also a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. The art centre staff regularly visit Nyirripi to collect finished work and drop off canvas, paint and brushes for the artists. Mary paints her father’s Jukurrpa, Dreamings which relate to Pikilyi Jukurrpa (Vaughan Springs) a large and important waterhole; and Janmarda Jukurrpa (Bush Onion Dreaming). Mary remembers playing in this area as a child, while collecting bush tucker with her family. The Jukurrpa (dreaming) at Napperby belongs to all Napangardi, Napanangka, Japangardi and Japanangka and has been passed down for millennia. When Mary is not painting she likes to go hunting with her family for goanna and bush tucker.