Pikilyi Jukurrpa
Pikilyi Jukurrpa means Vaughan Springs Dreaming. Pikilyi is a large and important waterhole and natural spring near Mount Doreen Station. Pikilyi Jukurrpa tells of the home of two Rainbow Serpents, ancestral heroes who lived together as man and wife. The woman Rainbow Serpent was of the Napanangka skin group while the man was a Japangardi. This was a taboo relationship contrary to Warlpiri religious law. Women of the Napanangka and Napangardi subsections sat by the two Serpents picking lice of them. For this service the two Serpents allowed the women to take water from the springs at Pikilyi. This was because the Serpents were the Kirda or ceremonial owners for that country. The spirits of these two Rainbow Serpents are still at Pikilyi today. This Dreaming belongs to the women and men of the Japanangka/Napanangka and the Japangardi/Napangardi skin groups. |
Aboriginal word glossary
