Yalmakany Marawili
Nindaṉ
47 x 58cm

ID: 7883-25

Near my homeland at Bäniyala there are two billabongs. The miyalk (women) here are collecting ṉiṉḏaṉ (water lilie nuts) from the one called Ganyupi, up near the end of the estuary. The other one is called Waŋurru. When the homeland was being established we would always go here to get gapu and ŋatha (food and water). The plant growing at the edges is ḏarraŋgi, it grows near creeks and billabongs. There is also räkay (water weed root) and wakwak (water lilies). Ṉiṉḏaṉ are like nuts, but are the young roots of these lilies, yellow-coloured and buried inside the mud. They are sometimes called ḏirrpu. We dig them up and cook them inside the ashes. The women have watjumuŋu, special paperbark baskets for collecting and carrying the ŋatha.

Image size: 47 x 58cm 
Paper size: 56.5 x 76cm
Paper: Somerset