Ancestral Turtle Hunt.
Artist
Mäṉmaṉ’ Wirrpanda
(1955)
Date1998
Object number00033807
NameBark painting
MediumNatural pigments on bark
DimensionsOverall: 1820 × 660 mm, 4.1 kg
Copyright© Manman Wirrpanda
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with the assistance of Stephen Grant of the GrantPirrie Gallery
Collections
HistoryThe Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land inhabit a landscape that was formed by the actions of ancestral beings, who can take both human and animal form. For instance water now flows where these creatures walked and hills have formed where they died. Ancestral time is not just in the past but also in the present and future. In light of this the sacred landscape and stories of East Arnhem Land are central to the Yolŋu people’s way of life and a prominent part of their bark paintings.
The Yolŋu (Aboriginal people) are connected with each other through a complex system of kinship. This social structure is made up of a number of clans whose members belong to one of two moieties, the Dhuwa or Yirritja. Yolŋu clans share ownership and rights of the land and saltwater. This ownership means they are both accountable for protecting and governing the Saltwater Country.
The Saltwater Project began in 1996 when an illegal fishing camp was discovered at Garranali, a sacred Aboriginal site in East Arnhem Land. This sacred area is home to the ancestral crocodile Bäru and found among the litter of the illegal camp was the severed head of a crocodile. This discovery prompted the local Yolnu people to produce a series of bark paintings that expressed the rules, philosophies and stories of their region. The project culminated in the production of 80 barks that stressed the importance of Yolŋu land ownership, laws and codes of behaviour for those who interacted with the landscape and sacred Indigenous places.
The Yolŋu have been involved in the land rights struggle since the 1960s. They are currently recognised as the traditional owners of northeast Arnhem Land under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, passed in the Northern Territory in 1976 it is seen as the benchmark in the recognition of Aboriginal land ownership in Australia. The Yolŋu also instigated a case for native title and sea rights in the Australian court system and used a number of the Saltwater Project bark paintings as evidence. In July 2008 the High Court of Australia made a landmark decision and ruled in favour of the Yolŋu people’s appeal. This essentially gave the traditional owners governance of about 80 percent of the Northern Territory coastline.
SignificanceThis bark painting highlights the kinship and shared Saltwater Country of the Djarrwark and Djapu clans. It is representative of the people belonging to the Dhuwa moiety of the Dhudi-djapu clan in the homeland of Dhuruputjpi.
Parent (child)/Child (parent)
