Bush Yam Dreaming

Rachael Nambuls

Rachael’s main painting design is the Pencil Yam. Her Mother, Evelyn Pultara, is one of the senior custodians of the Pencil Yam Dreaming and this has been passed down to Rachael. Rachael represents the Yam in both fine and broad leaf style. The Pencil Yam is an important food source for the Aboriginal people, and she represents the Yam in both fine and broad leaf style. Her mother, Evelyn Pultara, is one of the senior custodians of the Pencil Yam Dreaming and this has been passed down to Rachael.

Rachael’s colourful and intricate paintings of Bush Tucker show some of the different types of traditional foods that the women would collect including seeds, berries, witchetty grubs, goannas as well as leaves that would be used for bush medicine. Her talent for design, colour and storytelling are highlighted in these bright and beautiful paintings.

Rachael was born 1970 in the Utopia region on Stirling Station, north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. She is a teacher’s assistant at a small outback school, north of Alice Springs. She works with Aboriginal children to help keep their culture, language and traditions alive.