Gadal'miny Munyarryun, (circa 1930)
Sacred Tree Log and Sacred Stone, late 1960s
Sacred Tree Log and Sacred Stone, late 1960s
natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
141.0 x 50.5cm (55 1/2 x 19 7/8in).
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Australian Capital Territory, acquired at Yirrkala in 1981
The Estate of Mary Macha AM, Perth
This painting is accompanied by documentation that reads: "This bark painting depicts one of the most sacred myths of the Wangurri Clan of the Yirritja Moiety, and is painted in very fine detail by the old traditional artists. It is a most valuable painting because it depicts sacred aspects of the clan.
The two pointed objects represent a tree log, garauwarg, which was cut down by a spirit man of the Wangurri Clan in the Dreamtime, because he saw wild bees buzzing around a dead bough and wanted to get the honey from the hive within the bough. After he had gathered the honey he had left the tree lying in the freshwater creek into which it had fallen. Mangrove trees lined the creek, and some of the worms found their way into the tree log. (Usually the log is depicted with four prongs, two at the top and two at the bottom, but in this painting the artist has divided the log into two parts).
Some time later the log was swept down the river by a big flood, and on the way it touched river banks around which various Yirritja clans were living, including the Waramiri, Gumaidj, and Manggalili. Pieces of the tree split off at each of the places where these clans were living, and became sacred totems (rangga) for them. Eventually the log arrived at Arnhem Bay, and from there went out into salt water, visiting Howard Island and Milingimbi. Once, when the log got stuck in mud, one of the rotten branches split off, so that sometimes the log is depicted with only three prongs instead of four.
In the centre of the painting is a large oval which represents the Gurinjal rock, sacred to the Wangurri Clan. In the Dreamtime two men of the Wangurri Clan gathered some cycad nuts and soaked them in dilly bags to get rid of the poison. The nuts must be soaked for several days before they are skinned and eaten. Before this could happen a big flood came down and swept the cycad nuts in their dilly bags down the river. They turned into a large oval rock in an effort to resist the force of the flood. Gaurawag, the tree log, in its journey down the river, caught up with the stone and carried it on its trunk out to sea. It dropped the stone off near Cape Wilberforce, in the English Company Islands. This rock is very sacred o the Wangurri Clan, from whose country it originated. It is called the Gurinjal Rock, and is possibly the most sacred site of the Wangurri people.
In this painting the background pattern represents the Wangurri design of mangrove worms. Seven mangrove worms are illustrated in more detail, four on one side and three on the other side of the bottom part of the tree log, showing the heads of the worms as well as their bodies.'
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Sacred Tree Log and Sacred Stone, late 1960s
Sacred Tree Log and Sacred Stone, late 1960s
natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark
141.0 x 50.5cm (55 1/2 x 19 7/8in).
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Australian Capital Territory, acquired at Yirrkala in 1981
The Estate of Mary Macha AM, Perth
This painting is accompanied by documentation that reads: "This bark painting depicts one of the most sacred myths of the Wangurri Clan of the Yirritja Moiety, and is painted in very fine detail by the old traditional artists. It is a most valuable painting because it depicts sacred aspects of the clan.
The two pointed objects represent a tree log, garauwarg, which was cut down by a spirit man of the Wangurri Clan in the Dreamtime, because he saw wild bees buzzing around a dead bough and wanted to get the honey from the hive within the bough. After he had gathered the honey he had left the tree lying in the freshwater creek into which it had fallen. Mangrove trees lined the creek, and some of the worms found their way into the tree log. (Usually the log is depicted with four prongs, two at the top and two at the bottom, but in this painting the artist has divided the log into two parts).
Some time later the log was swept down the river by a big flood, and on the way it touched river banks around which various Yirritja clans were living, including the Waramiri, Gumaidj, and Manggalili. Pieces of the tree split off at each of the places where these clans were living, and became sacred totems (rangga) for them. Eventually the log arrived at Arnhem Bay, and from there went out into salt water, visiting Howard Island and Milingimbi. Once, when the log got stuck in mud, one of the rotten branches split off, so that sometimes the log is depicted with only three prongs instead of four.
In the centre of the painting is a large oval which represents the Gurinjal rock, sacred to the Wangurri Clan. In the Dreamtime two men of the Wangurri Clan gathered some cycad nuts and soaked them in dilly bags to get rid of the poison. The nuts must be soaked for several days before they are skinned and eaten. Before this could happen a big flood came down and swept the cycad nuts in their dilly bags down the river. They turned into a large oval rock in an effort to resist the force of the flood. Gaurawag, the tree log, in its journey down the river, caught up with the stone and carried it on its trunk out to sea. It dropped the stone off near Cape Wilberforce, in the English Company Islands. This rock is very sacred o the Wangurri Clan, from whose country it originated. It is called the Gurinjal Rock, and is possibly the most sacred site of the Wangurri people.
In this painting the background pattern represents the Wangurri design of mangrove worms. Seven mangrove worms are illustrated in more detail, four on one side and three on the other side of the bottom part of the tree log, showing the heads of the worms as well as their bodies.'
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