Dhalmula #2 Burarrwaŋa
Djulpan
Paper Size: 68.4 x 49.4cm; Image Size: 50 x 32.5cm; Paper: Hahnemuhle

ID: 5300-24

As told by the artist:

This print is a reflection of how I see the stars in the night sky. To me, they come in all different sizes and colours and they cross all over the night sky. When I look up at the stars it makes me happy & proud. The stars are like our ancestors – they keep us connected always. The stars are a part of my miny’tji. It is the same story as my barks.

The artist’s maternal grandmother’s eldest sister deceased artist Gulumbu Yunupiŋu gave the following information about stars;

“Our father Munggurrawuy painted the story of Djulpan. This  story  is   about  seven  sisters  who  went out  in  their  canoe  called   Djulpan. During  certain  seasons  they  used  to  go  hunting  for  food  and  always  come  back with  different  types  of  food.  As  you  can  see   they  would  come  back with  turtle,  fish  ,freshwater snakes  and  also  bush  foods like  yams  and  berries. They  can  now  be  seen  in  the  sky  of  a  night , seven  stars  that  come  out  together  like  they  are  shown  on  the  painting.

The  stars come  in  season  when the  food  and  berries  come  out,  the  stars  will  travel  through  the  sky  during  that month  until  the  season  is  over  and  they  don’t  come  out  until  the  next   season.  They are the constellation called Plaiedes and they are being chased by three brothers (Orion). They sail over the Northern horizon and when they get home they light their fires. “

Yolngu see a certain cloud shape that lets them know that it is alright to set the seasonal cleansing fires. These sisters (Plaiedes) hold the authority to light fires in their world first. Any early fires cause them to cry in unseasonal torrential downpours which put those unauthorised fires out. Historically, major fires/dust storms/volcanic smoke from Irian Jaya/Indonesia have probably signalled to Yolngu that there is land to the North where the Djulpan sisters have their home.

Little more was revealed about this body of knowledge until another of Nyapanyapa’s sisters, Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu created a publication for the Yirrkala Literature Production Centre attached to the Yirrkala School. This is the transcript of that book.