Peggy Nampijinpa Brown, Warlukurlangu Jukurrpa (Fire country Dreaming), 50x40cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Peggy Nampijinpa Brown
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 3312/23
• Materials - Acrylic paint on pre-stretched canvas
• Size(cm) - H50 W40 D2  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This Dreaming belongs to Warlukurlangu country to the south-west of Yuendumu, for which Jampijinpa/Jangala men and Nampijinpa/Nangala women have custodial responsibility. An old man ‘lungkarda’ (centralian blue-tongued lizard [Tiliqua multifasciata]), of the Jampijinpa skin group, lived on a hill with his two Jangala sons. The old man would feign blindness and send the two boys hunting in search of meat. While they were gone he would hunt and eat anything that he caught before they returned. One day the sons returned with a kangaroo that they had caught after much tracking. Unfortunately the kangaroo was sacred to the ‘lungkarda’, unbeknown to the boys. In his anger the old man decided to punish his sons and the next time they went out, he put his fire stick to the ground and sent a huge bush fire after them which chased them for many miles, at times propelling them through the air. Although the boys beat out the flames, ‘lungkarda's’ special magic kept the fire alive and it re-appeared out of his blue-tongued lizard hole. Exhausted the boys were finally overcome by the flames. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Usually sites that are depicted in paintings of this Jukurrpa include Warlukurlangu (a men's cave), Kirrkirrmanu (where the sacred kangaroo was killed), Wayililinypa (where the fire killed the two Jangala sons) and Marnimarnu (a water soakage) where the two Jangalas camped.

Peggy Nampijinpa Brown was born in 1941 in the bush close to Yuendumu. When she was a little girl her family moved to Yuendumu, an Aboriginal settlement 290 kms north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Peggy has been an important member of the Yuendumu Community. She participated in several organisations such as the Women Night Patrol, the Mt Theo Petrol Sniffing Program, The Women Center, Warlpiri Media and of course Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association. Her participation and powerful persona has made her a women respected by all members of the Yuendumu community. Recently (2007) she was the recipient of the Order of the Australia Medal for her work in the successful Petrol sniffing program. The Yuendumu Petrol Sniffing program has served as a standard and been a replication for other communities with Petrol Sniffing problems. Peggy has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 1988. She paints several Jukurrpa (dreamings) but the one that features constantly is her country Warlukurlangu Jukurrpa (Fire Dreaming), country south-west of Yuendumu for which Jampijinpa/Jangala men and Nampijinpa/Nangala women have custodial responsibility.