Djunungguyangu (Dugong)

$140.00

  • 21cm
  • Ochre on Wood
  • Catalog No: 1077-23-1677

Two Ancestral beings Burrak and Garranatji of the ancient Yirritja took to sea in their dugout canoe from the Blue Mud Bay coastline from Yathikpa to hunt. They prepared their objects of harpooning paraphernalia, manifestations of which are used today in secret ceremony. On seeing Dugong they persued it. In this area was a submerged rock surrounded by turbulent and dangerous water and it was here that the Dugong took shelter to escape the hunters. The action of the flung harpoon towards the Dugong, hence the rock, enraged the powers that be, causing these dangerous waters to boil from the sacred fires from underneath. The canoe capsized, drowning the Ancestral Hunters that were washed to shore with their canoe and hunting paraphernalia. The harpoon changing to the hollow log used for, in this case the first mortuary ceremony for the Madarrpa.

Available