Reproduction Print on paper, limited edition of 50.
Ngalkunburriyaymi or Yawk Yawk are female water spirits or more commonly known as, mermaid spirits. Ngalkunburriyaymi unlike Yawk Yawk spirits is an ancestral being, born from Yingarna (creation mother). Yingarna gave birth to two children, one being Ngalkunburriyaymi and the other Ngalyod (Rainbow Serpent).
In ceremonies where clan groups call on the rain in wet season, both Ngalkunburriyaymi and Ngalyod are celebrated with their mother Yingarna in order to maintain the natural cycle of rains and so in turn, do not upset the balance of the seasons.
Both brother and sister are often depicted by artists with different heads to their bodies, Ngalyod typically has a crocodile head and serpent like body, where as Ngalkunburriyaymi typically has kangaroo like head and fish tail body.
Ngalkunburriyaymi is important Djang (dreaming) for Kunkwinjku people of this area.
"Yawkyawk, those female water spirits, live under the water, in streams all over the place. But no-one ever sees yawkyawk, except clever men (who we call marrkidjbu) with supernatural powers. Wakkewakken also lives in water, he who was chopped off at the waist. He turned into honey, and his honey is still there in the water now. Mimih on the other hand go around on land hunting, and live in caves in the stone country. I tell stories about these spirits all the time to kids at our bush school, Nawarddeken Academy. We take them on bush trips and I tell these stories, and they record me."
Kodjdjan 2022