Bird

Jude Portaminni was a wood sculptor from Wurrumiyanga (Nguiu) on Bathurst Island, off the Northern Territory coast, where young Tiwi men typically learn to carve traditional burial poles. The poles are used in the pukumani burial ceremony, which derives from a creation story involving Purukuparli, the ancestor being – and a rich source of subjects for Tiwi art. Sadly, when aged in his forties, illness necessitated the amputation of the sculptor’s hand.

Portaminni’s Bird, ornately decorated with ochre cross-hatching, represents a sea bird, a recurrent subject in Tiwi art. Pelicans and other sea birds witnessed the first pukumani ceremony, performed by Purukuparli for the death of his baby son Jinani after he had been left in the sun’s scorching rays during his wife’s adultery with the moon. A sun-like roundel adorns the bird’s belly. The sea birds are also said to have taught the first ritual dances.

Barry Patton, Tarnanthi Writer & Researcher