Here the daughter of Nanyin has painted mythologies of Maŋgalili foundation that founded Djarrakpi and events that gave
cause to this clans mortuary ceremony.

It was in the wangarr, ancestral times, when the Guwak men, Munuminya and Yikawaŋa, sittng under the shade of the sacred
Marawili tree, instructed the ancestral koel cuckoo Guwak to lead the Maŋgalili people to this new place they had established
for them at Djarrakpi (Cape Shield- the easternmost promontory into Blue Mud bay at th efar south of the Miwatj region).

Having seen the people settled in their new homeland they announced to the Maŋgalili their farewell, that they, the Guwak
men were to travel out to sea, to a place in the sky and that they would become stars which would shine out of the night sky.
So a canoe and paddles were made and their journey began by paddling down the Milŋiya River which flows into the Blue Mud
Bay to the West of Djarrakpi. In the bay, at a place of significance, strong winds developed and a wake from the ancestral turtle
capsized the canoe - the men drowned. At this place is the site of Yiŋalpiya, the freshwater crocodile’s nesting place. This
same place is the spirit source for Maŋgalili people. It is surmised by others that this event is either an ancestral tsunami or
the inundation of the Gulf of Carpentaria at the end of the last Ice Age. The capsizing of this canoe and the death and
metamorphosis of these ancestral spirits into another dimension founds mortuary practice for this clan. The basic narrative of
a canoe capsized and resultant death is mirrored in companion clans the Maḏarrpa and Dhalwaŋu who also each occupy
separate peninsulars which jut into Blue Mud Bay to the West.

Each of these clans inter their dead in a special ceremony based around a large sand sculpture called Yiŋapuŋapu. Whilst the
songlines and stories and locations are different the form of the narrative is similar involving the inundation and death of
canoe hunters. This ceremony commemorates this ancestral event and liberates the spirit from its earthly form and frees it to
continue its infinite cyclical journey. In the case of the Maŋgalili the events of the incident are mapped in the voids of the
Milky Way. The black shapes are more prominent to the naked eye in a clear Arnhem land night where the stars are a literal blanket in the absence of light pollution. The river of stars which is known by English speakers as the Milky Way is an analogue
of the Milŋiyawuy River in an astral dimension. So the Guwak men are identifiable but also the other elements of the songs.
The Guwak sang in a tense which doesnt exist in English. In 'everywhen' contemporaneous past/present/future. The songs they
sang are the songs that are sung now which describe them singing themselves as they were capsized. They sing of the
elements of the environment which sought to save them and of the Guwak declining that help. They were acceptant of their
transformation into spirit form. These events are recorded in the dark voids within the Milky Way and the spirits of Maŋgalili
follow this pathway to the infinite.

A special log Milkamirri or Bandumul, containing mangrove worms offered itself as assistance. Ŋoykal the ancestral king fish is
also manifest in this form. Even the rock cod they had caught for their journey offered assistance, as did Dhäla the sea
creature. And mäṉa the shark. It was to no avail however as the men had destined themselves as offerings, to the night sky
where they and subsequent Maŋgalili soles are seen today in the Milky Way. These Maŋgalili souls attain their celestial
position by means of possum fur string Burrkun that connects Djarrakpi at the site of the Marawili tree to night sky.
Milŋiyawuy or Milŋiya as the Milky Way is also looked upon.

Below is a transcription of what Naminapu offered which gives a simplified outside interpretation of teh songs.

The night bird Guwak became lonely so he set out to find his friend Marrŋu, the possum, to talk to. During the day he found him
in several places but Marrŋu would not talk to him because it was daylight. Ever since the Guwak only calls at night as he
knows that this is the only time that Marrŋu will answer him. During his travels that day, as he flew along the coast, he saw
the king fish Ŋoykal and feeling hungry called out “Ŋoykal if you will jump out of the water onto the sand I will give you some
land.” Ŋoykal did so and was gobbled up by the Guwak. At long last he came to Djarrakpi and in the moonlight he saw the
sacred tree on the cliff. As he was very tired it was with great relief that he landed in the top of the tree and noticed the
Gunyaṉ crabs playing in the sand at the foot of the cliff, running from their holes through the parallel lines of foam left by the
ebbing tide. As he sat looking about, he heard a noise and realised Marrŋu was inside the hollow tree. He then sent
Garanyirrnyirr, the cicada, down the tree with a message to Marrŋu who came up the tree to the Guwak and they spent the
night talking about the sacred places of the Maŋgalili. They then sent garanyirrnyirr with a massage to Nyapaliŋu (Ancestral
spirit woman) and asked her to come with them into the Maŋgalili country. The possum travelled ahead and leŌ a path for
them to follow. Before the Guwak and Nyapaliŋu came together at Djarrakpi, when they met at the sacred possum tree
(Ganyawu, the wild cashew tree) Guwak had already travelled extensively with Garanyirryirr his messenger, and named
sacred places for the Maŋgalili. (Nyapaliŋu is a somewhat mystical being hovering in the background of the mythology;
information about her is very sparingly given and only after many years of contact.) She taught the Yolŋu women many things;
how to look for wild bulb ‘yoku’ and prepare it for eating, how the make bark string and weave pandanus palm baskets. She
came to the mainland from Groote Eylandt, travelling in a giant sized bark water container with a band of specially trained
spirit women known as Wurrathilaku, who eventually split up to become the different language and clan groups of the Yirritja
moiety, including the Maŋgalili. A more important part of Nyapaliŋu’s work was naming flora and fauna and making them
Yirritja totems, naming sacred places and making maḏayin (Law). The digging stick (wapitja) which she made for stripping bark,
is a very important symbol on the bark paintings as with this she made all the Yirritja waterholes.

Naminapu is an embodiment of the spirit of this feminine knowledge. In 2019 Nami's exhibition at Salon gallery in darwin was
accompanied by this essay from Will Stubbs

A lot of effort has been invested in recent times in defining the differences between people. Strident assertions of division.
Frantic attempts to exclude others from a specific identity. Dog whistling, name calling, a focus on religious difference, skin
colour, dress codes, place of birth, language and customs. A frenzy of insecurity around who can, and should be allowed, to
claim belonging to the rich nation states.

This is normal and human. It is natural for groups of humans to prize and value the things that capture their perceived group
identity. This instinct is at the heart of culture and accordingly cultural difference. In the Yolŋu world immense energy has
always been devoted to delineating the exact identity of every element of the Universe and its connections to one’s self or
group. As every single thing in the world has a deep essence which correlates to a clan or group of clans this identity politics is
the main game in town.

But the sense that everything is thus related militates against the use of these differences to exclude. Whomever is reading
this is related to me genetically. Whether they like it or not. And I certainly can’t blame anyone who is underwhelmed at that
notion. You cant chose your family.

Yolŋu feel the reality of this absurdity to the bone. They know that everyone is family because their culture demands it. They
are resigned to being related to me. There is no other possible alternative. But this isn’t a bit of tribal mumbo jumbo. Or if it is
our tribe has the self same mumbo jumbo. Except ours is good mumbo jumbo because we call it science.

The MRCA (most recent common ancestor) to all humans is estimated to have lived about 5000 years ago or as recently as 300
BCE. So whilst Yolŋu will argue and debate the minutiae of esoteric Rom (law) about the sacred essence of a particular valley
or yam they would never use it to take the next step and deny another’s humanity or equality because it would be impossible
to suggest that a family member was a lesser being.

Naminapu has spent her entire life as an artist working within the portfolio of the songs, essences and designs of her
patrilineal clan, the Maŋgalili of the Yirritja moiety.

In the past/present/future the Guwak ancestral beings led the Mangalili people to their new home at Djarrakpi (Cape Shield).
Having seen the people settled, the Guwak men (Koel Cuckoo brothers) sang their own journey, paddling out to sea along the
Milŋiyawuy River where they were drowned by a huge tidal wave, to a place in the sky where they become stars which would
shine out of the night sky. This River of Stars is the astral version of the Milŋiyawuy River and known in English as the Milky
Way. From here the eternal spirit will one day return to the earthly dimension in a fresh body. It will gush forth from this
water all soggy and sodden. It will slowly dry out and become corporeal like us. It will grow up and then grow once more into
its spiritual form in the river of stars to return again for ever more ad infinitum.

As a multi-awarded artist she stands beside her siblings Baluka and Galuma Maymuru and their fathers Narritjin and Nanyin
Maymuru as one of Australia’s first families of art.

This Maŋgalili porƞolio is as infinite as the universe so her discipline is not a limitation. And her insistence on this canon is
not an act of denial to those of us who do not share that identity. It is the opposite.

Because whilst it is natural and healthy to assert the sacred identity of the Maŋgalili or any other distinct cultural group there
is another side to that coin. We are all, inescapably and irrevocably human. And any effort to explain, understand, interpret or
manifest reality will inevitably be bounded by a simple fact. The parameters of humanity are universal. We live, we die, we
love, we struggle, we survive, we grieve, we eat, we fight. No matter who we are or what philosophy we use to underpin those
activities. And it is through this that we can glory in our different sameness. These paintings and ideas are for all of us. They
share this with all good art. They reach for the shape of the universe. The questions they answer are the same ones that we
face. And we all look up on the same stars and always have and always will.