Wanapati Yunupiŋu
Gawaŋalkmi
50.5 x 49cm

ID: 2870-26

These are gawaŋalkmi, the mangrove whipray – a dangerous and aggressive stingray. It is dark grey like mangrove mud with little white flecks like the bits of broken shell that decorate the muddy seafloor there. We hunt it to eat its raw liver like a seafood pate when it is ripe.

We dance it to show the power of the Gumatj. The liver represents the children of our sisters who follow their fathers into the opposite moiety but always remain a part of us, their mother clan.

The yothu (babies) of gawaŋalkmi are born live and are already dangerous at birth.

The stingrays sense the water beneath the sand and nuzzle into the soft mud. The sediment the gawaŋalkmi stir up when digging their holes floats in the water and become the clouds in the sky.

Image size: 50.5 x 49cm
Paper size: 70.5 x 69.5cm
Paper: Hahnemuhle