Mana at Lutumba
Date1998
Object number00033815
NameBark painting
MediumNatural pigments on bark
DimensionsOverall: 1730 × 1170 mm, 12.2 kg
Copyright© Djutjadjutja Mununggurr
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with the assistance of Stephen Grant of the GrantPirrie Gallery
DescriptionThis bark painting portrays Mana (the shark) protecting the saltwater country of Lutumba where the souls of the deceased Dhudi-djapu clan members reside. Mana is shown at the centre with four small offspring (Yothu), known as Bindydjalnut. The sacred rope pulls the shark out of its sacred place of Rinydjalnu. The saltwater country of Lutumba is is situated on the northern side of the Baykultji River and is the home of the artist's Mari (mother's mother's).HistoryThe Yolnu people of Arnhem Land inhabit a landscape that was formed by the actions of ancestral beings, who can take both human and animal form. For instance water now flows where these creatures walked and hills have formed where they died. Ancestral time is not just in the past but also the present and future. In light of this the sacred landscape and stories of East Arnhem Land are central to the Yolnu people’s way of life and prominent themes in their bark paintings.
The Saltwater Project began in 1996 after an illegal fishing camp was discovered at Garranali, a sacred Aboriginal site in East Arnhem Land. This sacred area is home to the ancestral crocodile Bäru and found among the litter of the illegal camp was the severed head of a crocodile. This discovery prompted the local Yolnu people to produce a series of bark paintings that expressed the rules, philosophies and stories of their region. The project culminated in the production of 80 barks that stressed the importance of Yolnu land ownership, laws and codes of behaviour for those who interacted with the landscape and sacred Indigenous places.
The Yolnu have been involved in the land rights struggle since the 1960s. They currently are recognised as the traditional owners of northeast Arnhem Land under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. This act was passed in the Northern Territory in 1976 and is seen as the benchmark in the recognition of Aboriginal land ownership in Australia. Despite this the issues of Indigenous land ownership, rights, customs and law continue to be contentious in the Australian legal system and wider community.SignificanceThis painting is representative of the people belonging to the Dhuwa moiety of the Djapu clan in the homeland of Wandawuy. It was painted for the Saltwater Project by the traditional Yolnu people of East Arnhem Land.
