John Martin Tipungwuti

Tokwampini was the messenger in the pukumani mythology. It was he who told Purukaparli that his wife Bima had committed adultery with her brother-in-law Taparra. This event lead to the mortality of the Tiwi people, the first death, the first funeral pukumani. Tokwampini became a jabiru (native crane), but tokwampini is a common Tiwi name for bird. There were pelicans, owls and all sorts of birds. One of the birds spoke to Purukaparli and siad “If you are having ceremony, we will give you feathers for your headband, armbands and goose featherball to decorate yourself so you won’t be recognised by the spirit of the dead”.