Datjuluma Guyula
Rupu Layŋu
Paper Size: 69.6 x 55cm; Image Size: 49.9 x 40.2cm; Paper: Hahnemuhle

ID: 5030-24

As told by the artist.

This is my mother’s story about the rupu (Ancestral Possum ancestor for the Maŋgalili clan) and the tree is Wuluŋgutji Dharpa Maŋgalili. The stars are the Milŋiawuy (Milky Way) and it shows it is night time, when the rupu come in and out of the larrakitj looking for fruit, Dhurrpinda (native plum) also known as Munydjutj Buchanania obovata. The (horizontal) lines represent clouds and the (vertical) lines the ocean called Gapu Muŋurru.

This is the outside story of a sacred song cycle which describes the establishment of the homeland of Djarrakpi for the Maŋgalili clan by the two Guwak brothers who alighted on this tree at the start of their epic.