Djuwakan #2 Marika

This marany’djalk (stingray) is ŋarraku ŋändiwu bäpurru. It belongs to my mother clan.

Its name is Dirimbi. I got it from Binydjarrŋa (Daḻiwuy Bay). We eat the body and cut the tail and make this ring here. Dirimbi is not like the other stingray we eat; Gawaŋalkmi, Gawukalaŋ, Gurrtjpi, Bämbi and Ṉamal. It has no poisonous barb but it’s body is completely covered in spines. Its English name is Porcupine Ray (Urogymnus asperrimus).

In the old days the old people would use a ring like this to look good. I know this. Nowadays men still wear this ring. I saw Duŋgala at Garrthalala once. He went hunting and got heaps of stingray including Dirimbi and they all used rings like these when I was little.

You get some of the power of the stingray. And we also rub the raw liver of the stingray on our bodies to make our skin smooth and strong again.

It makes us feel strong when we are wearing this ring and people can see that we are powerful. I brought my ring to the art centre and I thought about making it so that people would know our ways . People don’t know that Yolŋu men have rings too. And so we had it cast in brass and now here we are. Giving the background story for this Dirimbi ring.

- Djuwakan #2 Marika, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre

A bronze ring by Djuwakan #2 Marika made from a mould created from the tail of a Dirimbi (porcupine ray).

Dirimbi is a special stingray that has rings on its tail, Yolŋu hunters wear stingray skins tails as a trophy of their catch. This is a thousand year old tradition and the first known example of traditional Aboriginal ring design.

From the collection