2 AM 5905/08
Mary Napangardi Brown Kurrkara Jukurrpa (Desert Oak Dreaming) 2008
Acrylic on cotton 1220 x 1070mm SOLD
This painting tells the story of the ‘kurrkara’ tree (Desert Oak [Allocasuarina decaisneana]) commonly found in
many parts of the central desert of Australia. The ‘kurrkara’ tree is the shade tree where the women in this
painting sat down to rest at Mina Mina, which is an important ceremonial place belonging to
Japanangka/Japangardi men and Napanangka/Napangardi women. Mina Mina and the associated land are to
the west of Yuendumu in the sandhill country. Napanangka and Napangardi women are shown here collecting
‘jintiparnta’ (edible fungus [Elderia arenivaga]) at Kanta Karlangu, an area that is also called Mina Mina.

Ancestral women travelled from here to the north through Janyinki and other places then to the east to Alcoota
country. There are a number of ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and a clay pan at Mina Mina and it is here that the
women danced and performed various ceremonies. As a result ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks) rose up out of the
ground and it is these implements that the women carried with them on their long journey east. The women
danced and sang the whole way, with no sleep. The women collected other types of bush tucker as ‘yakajirri’
(desert raisin [Solanum centrale]).