Yulki Nunggumajbarr

“We want to share our culture with the world, through art.” – Yulki Nunggumajbarr

Senior weaver Yulki Nunggumajbarr comes from Miwal country.  She spent her youth in Wuyagiba before moving between Numbulwar, Roper and Groote Eylandt missions with her parents Bessy Numamudidi and Rueben Nunggumajbarr as she grew up.  Nunggumajbarr and her family were integral in establishing the mission at Numbulwar in 1952, and Yulki eventually became the first female First Nations priest in Australia.

Yulki was part of the new arts and crafts movement in the early days of Numbulwar mission, learning how to weave baskets from Old Gagadi and other Elders in the community.  With these Elders now gone, Yulki recognises her own responsibility in passing down knowledge to new generations including her people’s history, traditions, knowledge systems and pandanus harvesting, preparation and weaving wulbung (baskets).

In recent years, Yulki has enthusiastically adopted the use of ghost nets in her wulbung weaving practice and is now well-known for her distinctively bright and chunky woven baskets that help to rid Numbulwar’s shores of harmful ocean debris.