TMA651 Medium Cushion Cover Wool

This painting depicts the important site of Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In this region, dry creek beds contain mulju (water soakages or naturally occurring wells), which play a vital role in the survival of life in the desert.

Two Jangala men, who were rainmakers, sang the rain into existence, unleashing a powerful storm. As the storm swept across the country, lightning struck the land. It eventually met another storm from Wapurtali in the west. A kirrkarlan (brown falcon, Falco berigora) picked up the storm and carried it further west, dropping it at Purlungyanu where it created a giant soakage.

At Puyurru, the falcon unearthed warnayarra (the Rainbow Serpent), which carried water to form the large lake Jillyiumpa, near a local outstation.

In Warlpiri paintings of this Jukurrpa (Dreaming), traditional iconography is used to portray the narrative. Curved and straight lines represent ngawarra (flood waters), small circles show mulju (soakages), and short bars indicate mangkurdu (cumulus and stratocumulus clouds).

This Dreaming belongs to Jangala men and Nangala women and continues to be passed down through song, ceremony, and painting.