Bark Painting
date: label: Accession Date
content: 2 May 1949
name: label: Donor Name
content: American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "REPRESENTS GUNUMUNGU WHO DROWNED WHILE GATHERING MANGROVE OYSTERS DURING A HIGH TIDE. FIGURE YELLOW OUTLINED IN WHITE. MANGROVE TREES, FRESH AND SALT WATER ON BOTH SIDES. (SEE CARVED FIGURE CAT. #387495). REFER: MOUNTFORD: ARNHEM LAND, V. I, PL. 95(D) & P. 299 SIMILAR BUT NOT OUR SPECIMEN. SACRED JIRITJA (WONDJUK INFORMANT) DREAMING PLACE IS GUNUMUNGU, BLUE MUD BAY, AND THIS DRAWING HAS THE SAME STORY AS THE CARVED FIGURE OF A PREGNANT WOMAN. RIGHT SIDE: THE CROSS-HATCHED PANELS ARE WATER RUNNING DOWN FROM THE RIVER TO THE BAY, WITH MANGROVE TREE(MILINGERR). LEFT SIDE: SHOWS THE HIGH TIDE COMING IN TO WHERE IT MEETS THE FRESH WATER, WHERE THE EBBING TIDE LEAVES MARKS ON THE TREE. THE CENTRAL FIGURE IS GUNUMUNGU WHO USED TO WALK ALONE AMONG THE MANGROVES COLLECTING ALL THE MANGROVE-OYSTERS. WHEN A VERY BIG TIDE CAME IN ON ONE OCCASION (CAUSED BY A GREAT QUANTITY OF FRESHWATER IN THE WET SEASON) SHE WAS CAUGHT BY IT, BUT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND COULD NOT SWIM TO THE SHORE SO SHE WAS DROWNED. NOW THERE IS A TREE THERE STANDING BY ITSELF IN THE WATER MARKING THE PLACE WHERE HER SPIRIT WENT UP TO THE SKY. LENT TO NMNH DIRECTOR'S OFFICE OCT. 1990."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 24 Jan 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 178294
label: USNM Number
content: E387450-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bark Painting
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 97.8 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 46.35 cm