AM 5498/08

An important part of the woman’s role in traditional Aboriginal culture is to collect bush foods. Carrying bowls (coolamons) are used to collect the seeds of plants, flowers and bulbs. Wild yams, onions, tomatoes, beans, apples, cherries and plums provide ideal sustenance for desert dwellers. Evelyn keeps the Bush Yam Story alive through her paintings, as taught to her by her aunt Emily Kngwarreye. The Yams are collected by digging deep into the soil using sharp digging utensils either made from carved wood or more commonly today, a metal crow bar. The Yams are exposed amongst the root system of the yam bush.