Artist once known

Naturalistic mortuary figures of mokuy made in eastern Arnhem Land are derived from square-sectioned and painted grave post figures called wuramu, which in turn were influenced by the grave posts of the Macassans who visited the shores of Arnhem Land for some 400 years up to the beginning of the 20th century. In Yolngu languages, a mokuy is a ghost or the sinister aspect of the spirit of a deceased person. Mokuy inhabit the vicinity of the burial ground and are liable to harm those who venture close by. Yolngu go to great lengths to avoid disturbing these spirits.