Mathaman Marika

Keith Willey was a respected journalist and author of over twenty books. He won three national Walkley awards for journalism in consecutive years, all for feature articles on the Northern Territory, published in The Bulletin. Between 1956 and 1963 Willey worked as a journalist for the Northern Territory News and was introduced to Mawalan Marika during one of his many field trips for the paper. He was impressed by the artist and commissioned him to paint a bark painting for him, 'a good one, a big one'. He returned to the Yirrkala Community months later to collect the work and at this time acquired a similar sized work by Mathaman Marika.

The following information regarding this painting was supplied by Buku Larrnggay Arts Co-ordinator, Andrew Blake, in consultation with Gawirrin Gumana in March 1999.

'This painting is a Dhalwangu painting the clan of which Gawirrin is head. He remembers Mathaman painting this story more than once on the beach at Yirrkala in the presence of his father Birikitji and Mawalan. Gawirrin states that Mathaman, a Rirratjingu man was Djungaya for the Dhalwangu, his mother's clan.

This association of kin allowed him to paint the sacred works of another clan of a different moiety. This painting depicts the original Dhalwangu Yolngu called Burrarrpuy or Banitja people fishing at the sacred waters of Gulutji at Gangan. Yolngu stand in the sacred water depicted by the sacred Miny'tji of diamonds. Fish swim into the area in the middle through a one way trap called Birrku. Further up stream is blocked completely by a trap of branches called Midirrki.

Men would enter the water between the traps and stir the muddy bottom starving the fish there of oxygen. They would then float to the surface to be easily gathered. Those trying to escape would be caught in the specially designed Birrku.

Gawirrin says the story comes from Ancestral Beings Barama and Lany'tjung and is used today in ceremonial song and dance. It is painted still by Gawirrin. There are two sides to the Fish Trap at Gangan story, the one here and a deeper version not for the public'.

(Correspondence with Buku Larrnggay Arts, 1999)