Paddy Japaljarri Stewart

Puurda (Yam Dreaming) and Wanakiji (Bush Tomato Dreaming) are an important source of food for the Aboriginal people of the desert and there are many Dreaming rituals around them. The Puurdakurlu (yam [Vigna lanceolata]) are found in creek beds. It is a slender twining plant with yellow pea flowers, which flower throughout the year. Aboriginal people look for the white roots, then cook them in the hot earth beside the fire until they are just firm. In the painting the yam are represented by organic shapes. You can see mardi (yam root) and puurda (big yam) and the jijardu (yam flower). Wanakiji (Bush Tomato [Solanum chippendalei]) appear after the rains and change from green to yellow in summer. It can be eaten raw or cooked. The Bush Tomato is represented by circles of different colours to depict cooked and uncooked ‘wanakiji’. The wanakiji jijardu (bush tomato flower) and wanakiji (bush tomato plant) are shown in the painting. This painting refers specifically to Door 7. This door was one of some 30 doors of the community buildings at Yuendumu. In 1983 Paddy Japaljarri stewart and his colleagues painted these doors with the cultural knowledge or Dreamings of the Walpiri people as an effort to pass on that knowledge to successive generations. These doors were later bought by the Art Gallery of South Australia and have toured as an exhibition to many centres.