Paddy Japaljarri Stewart

The Jukurrpa site, shown in this painting for Ngatijirri (budgerigar [Melopsittacus undulates]), is at Yangarnmpi, south of Yuendumu. ‘Ngatijirri’ are small, bright green birds native to central Australia. They are common around the Yuendumu area, especially after the summer rains. Men would hunt for ‘ngatijirri’ nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, both considered delicacies. The men would also hunt for adult, flying ‘ngatijirri’, which they would kill by swinging branches, killing sticks or ‘karli’ (boomerangs) to hit the birds in flight. Budgerigar Dreaming came from Patirlirri, near Willowra, east of Yuendumu and landed at Manngangi where they became initiated men. They then scattered and went west, landing at Yangarnmpi, near Yuendumu. There are many rockholes there where the Budgerigars came and landed in the Dreamtime. This painting shows the Budgerigar Dreaming for my place, Yangarnmpi. You can see the eggs of the Budgerigar in the nest. Each time the flock of ancestral ‘ngatijirri’ lands, they perform ceremonies, singing and dancing as they fly and roost in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in this painting as concentric circles, while cross- like shapes depict the footprints of the birds on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks of ‘ngatijirri’ that can be found near Yangarnmpi and other sites close to Yuendumu. Custodians for the Ngatijirri Jukurrpa are Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men and Napaljarri/Nungarrayi
women.