Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming)

Margaret Nangala Gallagher

$3,350.00

This Jukurrpa tells the story of a ‘yankirri’ (emu) and a ‘wardilyka’ (bush turkey). The emu and bush turkey used to go around the country picking ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisins and mashing them into ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) to save in their nests for later. However, they were jealous of each other, each thinking the other had more. The emu went to the bush turkey’s next and destroyed his ‘kapurdu’. They fought and the bush turkey eventually flew away. Today at Ngarlikirlangu we can see round, red rocks which are the ‘kapurdu’ that the emu smashed up. This practice of making ‘kapurdu’ (fruit balls) is a traditional Warlpiri method of storing ‘yakajirri’; in the old days, people used to dry the ‘yakajirri’, grind them up with a rock in a coolamon, mix them with water and form balls from them, and cover the ‘kapurdu’ with red ochre so they would keep.