A Kirrkarlanji (brown falcon, Falco berigora) carried the storm further west, until it dropped it at Pirlinyarnu forming an enormous maliri (lake). The two storms travelled across the country from Karlipinpa near Kintore. It relates how two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm that collided with another storm from Warpurtali. The Warlpiri Water Dreaming story, Ngapa Jukurrpa, focuses on sites such Pirlinyanu, which is about 65 km west of Yuendumu, and Puyurru, north west of Yuendumu. Their largest community is at Yuendumu, but many live also at Willowra, Lajamau, Nyirrpi, Mount Allen and smaller settlements, while some have moved to Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered through their traditional lands. Just one of the large Water Dreaming stories – Ngapa Jukurrpa - belongs to the Warlpiri people whose lands are located in the Tanami Desert, east of the Western Australia-Northern Territory border. Special ceremonies are performed seasonally to ensure that rains come to regenerate the plants and to provide food for both animals and people. Aboriginal people meet for ceremonies beside water holes and their birthplaces are generally near one. Rockholes and other water sources were, and where possible still are, constantly maintained so that the water supply remains fresh and accessible.Ĭeremonies keep alive the memory of both the creation and the location of these sites.

Therefore, throughout Aboriginal Australia all water sources – rockholes, fresh water springs, soakages, rivers, underground water and billabongs – form a vital part of traditional knowledge and ritual life. By: David Wroth, Japingka Gallery, Updated July 2019įor Aboriginal people living a traditional life in the desert areas of Australia, water, and knowledge of where it could be found, was essential to survival.

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