Punata Stockman Nungarrayi

In this painting Punata has depicted the country around Mt Denison which also belongs to her father Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri. The central area represents the creek running through Mt Denison country while the black circles represent ‘sugarbags’ in the surrounding country. This painting was exhibited in September 2010 at Araluen Arts Centre in Alice Springs in their Desert Mob 2010 exhibition. Sugarbag (wild honey) or Ngalypuru is the syrup made by the native bees, described as a msall stingless honey bee. These insects live up in the trees and the Anangu (Aboriginal people) eat the honey. The honey is found in the tree hollows. To find the honey, the Anangu look for the native bees buzzing around the trees and the wax protruding from the trunk. The tree is then chopped and split to reveal the honey. The honey and the bees’ larvae are all collected in a coolamon or wooden bowl to be eaten.