Gunyan, 2025

Gunyan

Datjuluma produced this work with reference to her mothers country at Djarrakpi which is at the base of Cape Shield, the northern

perimeter of Blue Mud Bay. This Maŋgalili country is also site of one of the Ancestral ceremonial/burial grounds called the

Yiŋapuŋapu.

The Yiŋapuŋapu is a low relief sand sculpture designed to keep any contaminaon of death at bay as tradionally the body of the

deceased was placed within it for inial mortuary rites, to cleanse the bones of dangerous spirits held within the body ssue. A

metaphor for this acon of cleansing is ulised by the Maŋgalili in their sacred painngs by way of depicng Mirriya or Gunyan the

sand or ghost crab picking the bones of a fish carcass on the beach. Contemporary Maŋgalili on the beaches of Djarrakpi put their

food scraps in one place when at camp – the secular Yiŋupuŋapu. This painng shows the totemic Mirriya which feeds on the

Ancestral remains of the parrot fish Yambirrku. The miny’tji or sacred clan design for the sandscapes of Djarrakpi both adorn and

surround the crabs. In tradional mortuary ceremony for this clan the last act is to catch and eat Yambirrku and dispose of the bones

in the ceremonial sand sculpture for the crabs to pick clean overnight.

So a canoe and paddles were made and their journey began by paddling down the Milŋiyawuy River which flows into the Blue Mud

Bay near Djarrakpi. In the bay, at a place of significance, strong winds developed and a wake from the ancestral turtle capsized the

canoe – the men drowned. At this place is the site of Yiŋalpiya, the freshwater crocodile’s nesng place. This same place is the spirit

source for Maŋgalili people.

Datjuluma lives and works in Gunyangara (Ski Beach) in North East Arnhemland. She is married to Djawa Yunupingu senior

Gumatj clan leader and younger brother of Galarrwuy Yunupiŋu one of the most senior Gumatj Clan leaders.

Her father Waratjima Guyula was part of a small number of Djambarrpuyŋu clan members who lived around Yirrkala whilst

most of this large clan are based in Western Yolŋu country. There is an ancient sacred connecon between this clan and the

Rirratjiŋu landowners of Yirrkala stemming form a shared songline Djarrak – the sea tern. Her mother Naminapu Maymuru

is a well known Maŋgalili arst whom is famous for her painngs of the Milŋiyawuy, Milky Way painngs as well as her

more classical Maŋgalili bark painngs. Naminapu and her family were part of the thriving arst’s school which developed

around her grandfathers Narritjin and Nanyin Maymuru.

Datjuluma is following both her parents in there arsc careers and is forming a strong visual identy as a powerful arst in

her own right.