Garawan Wanambi: Marraŋu 2017

This painted surface depicts country close to Raymangirr, on the coast of Arnhem Bay. It is a sacred and restricted area where freshwater is known to spring to the surface of the beach at the low tide region.

The artist‘s father‘s mother clan is the Maraŋu. The Marrakulu and Maraŋu are closely related clans through Madayin (sacred clan mythologies and law). Both tell of the felling of monumental trees by the honey ancestor Wuyal, the scouring out of a river course by the fallen log on its way to sea, deluge of honey, floods and other apocalyptic events. For the Marrangu, at this river mouth near Raymangirr are places of non-secular danger where freshwater fonts spring up into the tidal region. It has been said that if you go too close you’ll become sick with Mapan (boils), such is the malevolent power of this site. It is a site of the mosquito ancestors, who will Waya Mari (fight with spears into) the boil releasing the bloody muck.

Then there is peace and calm after the storm and sun rays play on the surface of the water, another manifestation depicted within this work. The mosquito is a symbol of aggression and the ancestral mosquitoes fight with spears as on an avenging expedition. The mosquito ancestors are associated with places of spiritual danger that cause boils. Fighting is a release of tension just as the bursting of a boil.

The design represents this place in the river mouth near Raymangirr, where freshwater springs bubble up beneath the saltwater. They represent the different character of the waters moving from anger and turbulence to the calm of resolution, bathed in the warmth of the sun’s rays.

The Larrakitj had its traditional use for the Yolngu of North east Arnhem Land as an ossuary or bone container erected as a memorial to a dead kinsman up to a decade after death. After death the body of the deceased was often ceremonially placed on a raised platform and left to the elements for an appropriate time. The area would then be abandoned until the next stage of the ritual.

This took place once it was determined that the essential eternal spirit of the deceased had completed its cyclical journey to the spring from which it had originated and would in time return again. This might be several years. Whilst the body was ‘lying in state’ others got wind of the death, perhaps by subliminal message and made preparations to journey to the site of mortuary. Usually enough time had elapsed for the bones of the deceased to be naturally cleansed on the platform. The essence of the soul within the bone was made ready for final rites when other outside participants necessary for its safe journey arrived. Ritual saw the bones of the deceased placed within the termite hollowed memorial pole for final resting. Mortuary ritual would end with the placement of the Larrakitj containing the bones standing in the bush. Over time the Larrakitj and its contents would return to mother earth.

The Larrakitj has often been referred to as the mother’s womb. Once sedentary mission communities were established in Arnhem Land it became impractical to abandon permanent communities and outlawed to expose corpses on platforms. However the cosmology of the Yolngu and the essence of ritual mortuary ceremony remains just as important. Larrakitj continue to be produced as the equivalent of headstones or to contain the personal effects of a deceased (which might be dangerous unless removed from the living because of the emanations imbued by contact with the deceased).

A further role for this cultural form is as a fine art object and an instructional tool for younger generations. Artworks of this nature have multiple layers of metaphor and meaning which give lessons about the connections between an individual and specific pieces of country (both land and sea), as well as the connections between various clans but also explaining the forces that act upon and within the environment and the mechanics of a spirit’s path through existence. The knowledge referred to by this imagery deepens in complexity and secrecy as a person progresses through a life long learning process.