The fresh water turtle played a very important role in Aboriginal culture throughout Australia. This painting illustrates the Circle of Life and how mothers everywhere always do their best to protect their offspring from harm. We see the mother turtle emerging from the water, looking for a safe place to lay her eggs. She is very secretive because she knows many predators would like to eat not only the eggs but also the young turtles when they hatch. She goes over the open sand and finds a place where she can scrap a nest of grass, leaves and soft mud into a mound, very similar to a crocodile, where she can lay her eggs. Then she heads back into the water leaving the decaying mound to act like an incubator, keeping the eggs warm and safe until they hatch, hidden from the view of predators.
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My bush name is Jardunde and my skin is Nargarda (‘bush’ names are individual and we’re born into our “skin’ names). Dad migrated from Germany and settled in the Kimberly where he met my mum who was born “in the bush” on Go Go Station south of Fitzroy Crossing. My mother was a full blood Aboriginal and grew up learning to live off the river and the land. My mum taught me all she knew of our culture, pushing me to pester my grandfathers and grandmothers for more knowledge, telling me to “watch and remember”. I feel my paintings represent this deeper part of me…. what I’ve seen, heard and been taught by my mother’s extended family and how I, as half Aboriginal, have grown in a Western culture.
You can contact Jardunde directly by clicking this link: Jardunde