Baraltja, 2023

$5,500.00

  • 258cm x 21cm
  • 2023
  • Earth pigments on Stringybark hollow pole
  • Catalog No: 3778103-7236-23

Every season, the systems that feed the mangrove creek of Baraltja (home of Burrut’tji, the Lightning Snake) bring in the new season freshwaters from two major sources. One is from Dhalwaŋu clan estates of Gäŋgaŋ – the other from the lands of the artist’s Madarrpa clan estates towards Numbulwar – country associated with Baraltja called Baykultji. The connection is through this freshwater flooding at Baraltja.

As it does Burrut’tji ‘tastes” the first freshwater coming down. At this the Lightning Snake at its residence stands on its tail and spits lightning into the storm. Incoming waters flood first the plains then the mangrove lined creeks that finally empty into the sea. Leaves of the mangroves fallen into the water bank up on the surface in fields of red, yellow and black known as Motu. The serpent not shown here is as a sandbank ever shifting and changing in the waters denoted by the oval leaf shapes.

Manikay and ‘deep’ names associated with Baraltja are intoned and Burrut’tji danced at the completion of some ceremony for the Madarrpa and associate clans. Events associated with Burrut’tji are also enacted in ceremony.

In ancestral times, Burrut’tji travelled underground to Gäŋgaŋ (homeland of the Dhaḻwaŋu people) and other places far away from his home and into country belonging to other clans including the Maŋgalili.

The spine of the snake is important as it was laid underwater as part of a fish trap made by ancestral Yirritja. It is the ancestral remains of this trap that cause a natural barrage across the tidal creek leading out of Baraltja that concentrates the flow from the plain banking up the motu (fallen mangrove leaves) at this site.

In mortuary ceremonies held for Yolŋu in the past, a hollow log (larrakitj) was used to contain the bones of the deceased. Burrut’tji is closely associated with the hollow log in mortuary ceremonies. Burrut’tji and his home are most sacred aspects of the ceremony which would be conducted only by elder men.  Women would not be able to enter the area of the ceremonial ground used to represent Burrut’tji’s home – the journey of the spirit of the deceased Maḏarrpa person begins from this site. In the less restricted sections of this story, both men and women dance the fish, birds, mangrove leaves, fish trap, dogs, tide lines and other elements and tell the same story through song and dance.

In summary, the muddied freshwater of the bottom Dhalwaŋu clan downstream from Gangan flow out through Baraltja (a small mangrove creek in a different watercouse). This is actually technically possible at the time of Wet Season inundation of the floodplains behind the mangroves where an expanse of water up to 50km long can exist connecting the two. But the real connection being mapped is that between the Dhalwaŋu and their mother’s mothers – the Madarrpa. The diamonds segueing into the elliptical shapes represents the passage down the Gangan River. The pure elliptical shapes represent the motu or mangrove leaves banking up against the sandbar in Baraltja.

 

The Ḻarrakitj had its traditional use for the Yolŋu 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 Ḻarrakitj containing the bones standing in the bush. Over time the ḻarrakitj and its contents would return to mother earth.

The ḻarrakitj 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 Yolŋu and the essence of ritual mortuary ceremony remains just as important. Ḻarrakitj 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.

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