| According to Aboriginal people in the Kimberley, the Wandjina is the creator of all living things. Wandjina created the sacred waterholes, the Wungud places, where babies are dreamt.
There are many kinds of Wandjina. Young Jack Dale Mengenen learned about them when he footwalked the country with his grandfather. Once initiated, he was shown the images of the
Wandjina in the sacred places. He was taught that he must only paint the Wandjinas of his own country, not those belonging to others.
Jack paints the large Wandjinas found at the Dreaming places, the Narrungunni sites- sites such as Iondra, near Bells Gorge. Some of these large impressive Beings, staring out from the canvas with their shining eyes, are the Law Wandjinas, identified by the band of paint painted across their forehead. Others show white dots all over their bodies, signifying that they have passed through the rigours of initiation into the Law.
The storm Wandjinas have powers that bring on and control the cyclonic storms that crash over the Kimberley during the wet season. Their power is critical to the seasonal regrowth of native plants and animals – a time when the people traditionally move out into the wider country to hunt, and to join up with other groups for ceremonial and social gatherings.
Jack says of the Wandjinas: “They are my proof of ownership of this land just like the words written on a Title to Land issued by the government agency that manages land tenure. My title to land comes from the Narrungunni (Dreaming) and Whitefellas get theirs from the government. In my way of thinking the Blackfellas law is older and more true than the Whitefellas’ law.
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