Garrpathi Marawili
Djunuŋgayaŋu
Paper Size: 78 x 58 cm; Image size: 52 x 36 cm; Paper: Hahnemuhle

ID: 3553-20

Garrpathi is a Yirritja man who is from the Maḏarrpa clan.

The gurtha (fire) design of the Maḏarrpa clan can be seen in the Djunuŋgayaŋu (Dugong).

This woodblock print is based on a place called Yathikpa. It is a good place for hunting.

There is a lot of Djunuŋgayaŋu there that hang around and feed on gamaṯa (sea grass).

Wavy ribbons of gamaṯa sway in the sunlit water.

The story of this print is based on speculation of this oral tradition of an ancient tsunami: 

On seeing Djunuŋgayaŋu, ancestral hunters would take their hunting harpoon and canoe out to the sea of Yathikpa in pursuit.

The hunters were lured too close to a dangerous rock by the dugong seeking shelter and accidentally struck the rock with their harpoon causing a large fire.

The gamaṯa is a manifestation of flames on the sea bed. The fire at this sacred site boiled the water, capsizing the canoe, creating an ancestral tide.