​May 19, 2017 Wurrumiyanga - Tiwi Islands

Leaving Cullen Bay for Bathurst Island

Our small group (6) was warmly welcomed with totem dances and smoking ceremony. The rest of the day was jam packed - morning tea with fresh damper, a tour of the museum established by Sister Anne Gardiner (Australian Senior of the Year), chat with the local artists at work - carvers, potters, sculptors and painters. It was all very special.

Vivian 'Buffy' (R) was our local guide

This is one of the totem dances - performed by the men

Women perform the same totem dances after the men.
the older woman in the foreground was preparing for
the special Yam ceremony which goes for 3 days during
which she will dance. 

We learnt about Tiwi Islands' history dating back to the dreaming, their creation stories, their links with Makassans and the introductio of sails and metal, mourning and funeral practices, skin groups and marriage traditions, how Christianity and traditional spirituality meet and mix. I could write a book but .......

A large timber church built in 1911. It is now used for special
ceremonies including Easter, Christmas, weddings and baptisms

We also learnt that it was Father John who sent a message to Darwin warning them that Japanese planes were heading their way - the warning was ignored! One of the Japanese planes was shot down and crashed in the islands and the pilot taken prisoner; they have the propellor from that plane. We visited the 100 year old church, the tallest building on Bathurst Island and finished our visit back at teh art centre where we were able to have a piece of fabric screen-printed with a design of our choice by master artist, Alan Kerinauia.

Alan and his apprentice printing large bolts of fabric.
They print on cotton and silk

Here Alan is carefully mixing the colours to screen print my
tea towel. He has a keen eye and imagination for the end product

My sea turtle.  Beautiful eh!

A different combination of colours was used for Lindsay's birds.

They are such beautiful friendly people. we felt very welcome and priveleged to have been told about their culture.

Leaving Wurrumiyanga

I spent quite a bit of time in the 2.5 hour ferry ride back to Darwin talking to a father and son from Melville Island, the other island. They were heading into Darwin to buy warm clothes as the son is off to Melbourne for a week with a group from his school to play footy at Scotts college - an annual visit arranged by Tiwi footballers. You think Melburnians are fanatic AFL fans well let me tell you .....