8 AM 1761/04
Peter Monddingu (2) Dhuwa Sacred Pythons at Mirrarmina c. 1970
Natural ochres on bark 400 x 770mm $2000
Details on reverse - silverfish eaten paper, typewritten text. Clan Group: Daydurrigurr Language group:
Gupapuyngu Moiety: Yirritji. This Dreaming is sung by Liyagalawumirr clan group Dhuwa moiety. This artist
calls these Dreaming Ngarrxxi - Mother. The songs which this painting depicts tell of the spiritual life of the clan
in their tribal homelands, and of the activities of the creatures and plants which share the Dreaming there, and also
of the laws by which they live. This particular painting depicts Dhuwa Sacred Pythons at Mirrarmina - Part of
the Wagilag Sisters Story. The Wagilag Sisters Dreaming story is one of the major creation stories of the
Aboriginal people from Arnhem Land. It was the subject of a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia
in 1997. This print was produced by the artist especially to accompany this exhibition.Widtji, the olive python,
lives at Mirrarmina where the two sisters make camp after one has given birth to a baby boy. Widtji swallows the
women after they dance to stop the rain. The first monsoon began when the python spurts water from the
waterhole into the sky. He later brings the women back up after feeling ill, the floodwaters then recede and the
women become two large boulders which are found in this place to this day.