Malcolm Jagamarra

This painting is an ancestral map of the Lander River region in Warlpiri country – Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory. The central circles represent the permanent waterhole that is at the fork in the Lander River at Willowra – Malcolm’s country. This is where the ancestral Budgerigar men flew out of the ground and acroos the country stopping at various sites to perform ceremonies and to teach the law. They would return back into the ground at this central spot. This Dreaming is particularly important to Malcolm. Peter Goldsworthy wrote “Three Dog Night” and this novel speaks extensively about a similar Budgerigar Dreaming painting also by a Jagamarra and is fascinating reading.