Water Dreamingby Tommy Jangala Watson

The site depicted in this artwork is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu (a remote Aboriginal community). In the usually dry creek beds are Mulju, or naturally occurring wells. The Kirda for this site are the Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain and unleashed a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a Pamapardu Jukurrpa from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out of Wirnpa and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the “Kurdukurdu Mangkurdu Jukurrpa” (Children of the Clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations. The Termite Dreaming eventually continued west to Nyirrpi, another small remote Aboriginal community approximately 160km west of Yuendumu.