Budgerigar Dreaming - Mona Napaljarri Rockman

This painting tells the Dreamtime story of the Budgerigar Ngatijirri-a green bird from the artist's country.When the women are out hunting they see many little birds flying from tree to tree and often stop to talk and feed them. They spend hours sitting under the trees,watching the birds flying around.Whenever the women are walking through the bush and feeling thirsty,they will follow the little birds because they know that before long the birds will lead the women to waterholes or creeks.The circles represent the trees and straight lines represent travelling paths of the birds as they fly from tree to tree.The U shapes represent women sitting in the bush and the ovals and short lines represent their coolamon dishes and digging sticks respectiveley.The wavy lines represent the creeks running through the trees.The crosses represent the Ngatijirri flying.The inner story is related to the Women's ceremony in respect to the Budgerigar Ancestral SpiritThis Dreaming belongs to the Nungarrayi,Jungarrayi,Napaltjarri,Japaltjarri skin groups.This Dreaming is from the Tanami Desert in Northern Territory.