Auslan tour - Saltwater Bark paintingsAuslan tour - Saltwater Bark paintings 

This artwork is one of eighty bark paintings in the Saltwater Collection. These works were created by 47 Yolngu artists from 15 different clans in north-east Arnhem land. The purpose of this collection is to educate outsiders about local Indigenous stories, land ownership and sacred sites.

In 1996, Waka Munungurr found rubbish and the severed head of a bäru (crocodile) on the beach at Garrangali (Blue Mud Bay), his saltwater Country in north-east Arnhem Land. This area was created in the tracks of bäru, the crocodile.

Yolŋu Elders were distressed by the invasion of the sacred waterways and the disrespectful beheading of bäru in his own nest. Yolŋu Elders decided to paint the Saltwater Yirrkala Bark Paintings of Sea Country. These paintings reveal sacred patterns and designs, called miny’tji. It was believed that by revealing these sacred designs to the Balander (strangers or white people), understanding and respect for Yolŋu law would be advanced.

The Saltwater Yirrkala Bark paintings formed the spiritual and legal basis for the Native Title Sea Rights Claim. In 2008, the Blue Mud Bay decision was passed by the High Court of Australia, granting traditional owners exclusive access rights to the intertidal zone.

What colours and patterns can you see? Are there any animals in the artwork?

If you could meet the artist of this saltwater bark painting, what would you ask them?