Acrylic on canvas
Signed certificate of authenticity.
Mina Mina is an extremely important ceremonial site for
Napangardi and Napanangka women that is located
approximately 600kms west of Yuendumu, just east of Lake
Mackay and the WA border. The area has a âmarluriâ (salt
lake or claypan) that is usually dry, without water. There
are also a number of âmuljuâ (soakages), sandhills, and a
large stand of âkurrkaraâ (desert oaks [Allocasuarina
decaisneana]). The Mina Mina Jukurrpa is an important
source of Warlpiri ritual knowledge and social organisation,
particularly relating to the different roles performed by men
and women.
The âkirdaâ (owners) of this country are
Napangardi/Napanangka women anti
Japangardi/Japanangka men, who can depict portions of the
Mina Mina Jukurrpa in their paintings. There are a number
of different components of the Mina Mina Jukurrpa; artists
usually choose to depict one particular aspect. These can
include âkarntaâ (women), âkarlanguâ (digging sticks),
âmajardiâ (hairstring skirts/tassels), ângalyipiâ (snakevine
[Tinospora smilacina]), âjintiparntaâ (desert truffle [Elderia
arenivaga]), and âkurrkaraâ (desert oak [Allocasuarina
decaisneana]).
The Mina Mina Jukurrpa tells the story of a group of
ancestral âkarntaâ (women) who traveled from west to east.
In the Dreamtime, these ancestral women danced at Mina
Mina and âkarlanguâ (digging sticks) rose up out of the
ground. They collected these digging sticks and started
travelling to the east. They carried their digging sticks over
their shoulders and they were adorned with âmajardiâ
(hairstring belts), white feathers, and necklaces made from
âyinirntiâ (bean tree [Erythrina vespertilio]) seeds. They
continuously anointed themselves with âminyiraâ (shiny fat)
to increase their ritual powers as they went along. As the
women travelled, they were followed by a âyinkardakurdakuâ
(spotted nightjar [Eurostopodus argus]) from the Jakamarra
subsection. The bird would call out and then hide in the
bushes behind them as they travelled.
When the women danced at Mina Mina, they created a large
dust cloud that swept up the âwalyankarnaâ (snake
ancestors). The âwalyankarnaâ had previously transformed
themselves from witchetty grubs into snakes at Kunajarrayi
(Mount Nicker, 200km southwest of Yuendumu), and they
had stopped at Mina Mina to watch the women dance. This
dust cloud blew the âwalyankarnaâ further north to
Yaturluyaturlu (near the Granites gold mine). In this way,
the âkarnta Jukurrpaâ (womenâs Dreaming) and ângarlkirdi
Jukurrpaâ (witchetty grub Dreaming) intersect. This allowed
the ancestral women to observe the witchetty grubs and
learn how to best locate and cook them, which are skills
that Warlpiri women still use today.
The women went east from Mina Mina, dancing, digging for
bush tucker, and creating many places as they went. As they
went east, they passed through Kimayi (a stand of âkurrkaraâ
(desert oak)). They passed through sandhill country where
the âyarlaâ (bush potato or âbig yamâ [Ipomea costata])
ancestors from Yumurrpa and the ângarlajiyiâ (pencil yam or
âsmall yamâ [Vigna lanceolata]) ancestors from Yumurrpa
were engaged in a huge battle over women. This battle is
also a very important Warlpiri Jukurrpa narraÆve. The
women went on to Janyinki and stopped at Wakakurrku
(Mala Bore), where they stuck their digging sticks in the
ground. These digging sticks turned into mulga trees, which
still grow at Wakakurrku today. The women then went on to
Lungkardajarra (Rich Bore), where they looked back towards
their country in the west and started to feel homesick for
what theyâd left behind.
The women split up at Lungkardajarra. Some of them
travelled eastwards to Yarungkanyi (Mount Doreen), and
kept going east. They passed through Coniston in
Anmatyerre country, and then went on to Alcoota and
Aileron and beyond. The other group of women travelled
travelled northwards from Lungkardajarra to
Karntakurlangu. These women stopped at Karntakurlangu to
dig for âwardapiâ (sand monitor/goanna [Varanus gouldii])
and âjintiparntaâ (desert truffle) before going further north.
Both groups eventually got so homesick for their desert oak
country in the west that they went all the way back to Mina
Mina, where they stayed for good.
This Jukurrpa contains important information about the
different roles that men and women play in Warlpiri
culture, particularly in the context of ritual performance. It
alludes to an earlier time in which their ritual and social
roles were reversed, in which women controlled the sacred
objects and weapons that are now exclusively âownedâ by
men.
In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography
can be used to represent Jukurrpa, particular sites, and
other elements. In paintings of the Mina Mina Jukurrpa,
sinuous lines are often used to represent ângalyipiâ
(snakevine). Circles and roundels can represent the
âjintiparntaâ (desert truffle) that the women collected as
they travelled, and straight lines are used to represent the
âkarlanguâ (digging sticks). âMajardiâ (hairstring skirts) are
represented by wavy lines suspended from a single curved