Tunga Bag (Wangatunga and Yimwarlini)
Maker
Pedro Wonaeamirri
(1974)
Date1995
Object number00019479
NameBag
MediumPandanus leaves, ochres, stringybark
Dimensions450 x 460 x 290 mm, 1.55 kg
Copyright© Pedro Wonaeamirri
ClassificationsCeremonial artefact
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis Tunga bag (Wangatunga and Yimwarlini) was placed on the Pukumani pole at the end of the Pukumani ceremony. Burial rituals (Pukumani) are based on the teachings of ancestral spirits. The elaborately carved and painted poles (tutini) are placed around the grave of a Tiwi person.HistoryBurial rituals (Pukumani) are based on the teachings of ancestral spirits. The elaborately carved and painted poles (tutini) are placed around the grave of a Tiwi person.
The poles are commissioned by the dead person's family along with new songs, dances and body paint designs. The works placate the spirit of the dead and ensure safe travel to the spirit world where it will dwell forever. Tunga (woven and painted bark baskets) are placed on top of poles at the end of the Pukumani funeral ceremony to signify the end of life. Each tutini is made from a single piece of carved bloodwood or ironwood that is intricately painted with natural ochres in abstract patterns unique to the Tiwi. The base is left bare as it is inserted into the ground.
Early in the 20th century the Tiwi were moved into towns under the administration of non-Indigenous people and the Pukumani ceremony was banned. In 1976 the Tiwi regained control of their land under the Northern Territory Land Rights Act and this has led to a cultural revival of the Pukumani ceremony and some include Christian elements in the ritual.
