Pamela Napurrurla Walker / Brush-Tail Possum Dreaming (1A)

Artwork is accompanied by Warlukurlangu Artists (Yuendumu) Art Centre Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance

Pamela Napurrurla Walker was born in 1957 at Mt Doreen Station, an extensive cattle breeding station about 55km west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. She was born into a large Warlpiri family and has three brothers and six sisters. Her father, Towser Jakamarra Walker (Dec) was not only one of the senior men in the Warlpiri community at Yuendumu but also a well-known artist who painted for Warlukurlangu Artists. Both her parents have passed away. Pamela finished Primary School at the local School in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290km north-west of Alice Springs, where has lived most of her life. However, she lived in Nyrripi for 2 years where she also has family. She has two daughters and many nieces and nephews.

Pamela has been working with Warlukurlangu Artists since 1994 but it wasn’t until 2006 that she began to paint full time. She paints her father’s jurkurrpa, Dreamings which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. These stories were told to her by her father, stories that have been passed down through the millennia.

Pamela’s paintings have strong iconic themes that are colourful and bold. When Pamela is not painting or looking after her family she likes to go hunting, especially for bush potato.

Janganpa Jukurrpa (common brush-tail possum Dreaming) travels all over Warlpiri country. ‘Janganpa’ are nocturnal animals that often nest in the hollows of white gum trees (‘wapunungka’).

This story comes from a big hill called Mawurrji, west of Yuendumu and north of Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs). A group of ‘janganpa’ ancestors resided there. Every night they would go out in search of food. Their hunting trips took them to Wirlki and Wanapirdi, where they found ‘pamapardu’ (flying ants). They journeyed on to Ngarlkirdipini looking for water. A Nampijinpa women was living at Mawurrji with her two daughters. She gave her daughters in marriage to a Jupurrurla ‘janganpa’ but later decided to run away with them. The Jupurrurla angrily pursued the woman. He tracked them to Mawurrji where he killed them with a stone axe. Their bodies are now rocks at this place.

Warlpiri people perform a young men’s initiation ceremony, which involves the Janganpa Jukurrpa. The Janganpa Jukurrpa belongs to Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men and Nakamarra/Napurrurla women. In Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent this Jukurrpa. ‘Janganpa’ tracks are often represented as ‘E’ shaped figures and concentric circles are used to depict the trees in which the ‘janganpa’ live, and also the sites at Mawurrji.