Deutscher and Hackett

2010 Paintings from Warakurna and Wanarn, Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney, in association with Warakurna Artists, Western Australia, 13 – 27 November 2010

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Warakurna Artists which states:

'Tommy Mitchell was born in the desert the Warakurna side of Papulankutja. 

Tommy's father's country is called Nganturn. This painting depicts an important story from the area called Walu. There were two men and one little boy camping at the Walu rockhole. 

The Uncles used to go out hunting and leave the little boy behind. He was a naughty boy! He used to sneak into the Owl people's camps and steal their meat. 

One day the families went to see the uncles. They said "your nephew has been stealing our meat!". The Uncles asked the boy if this was true but he lied and said no, he didn't steal the meat from the Owl people. The Uncles then got wild at the Owl people and a big tornado swept them away. They must have finished? 

One day the men went hunting and left the little boy behind again. This time the men returned with an emu. They were cutting up the emu for dinner and the greedy little boy pulled out its heart. The boy was holding the heart and blood spilt onto the rocks. He ran away with the heart and turned into wind. The emu's blood trail stained the rocks and can still be seen there today. Tommy explains, 'this is a really sorry one, a really sorry story'. 

Tommy's talks about his early childhood experiences of travelling around tali country (sandhills) with his family, 'We lived in the bush, there was no hospital and no clothes and we were naked and it was cold. I hunted marlu, rabbit, tirnka (small goanna) and pussycat, it was good meat. We also collected tjarnmarta (bush onions), maku (bardi grubs) and kampurarrpa (bush raisins)'.'