Nyunmiti Burton

Nyunmiti Burton (b. 1960) is an artist, teacher and community leader from Amata in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, a community situated south of Uluru close to the Northern Territory border, in northern South Australia. Born in Alice Springs and having grown up in Pukatja (Ernabella), Burton moved to Amata aged twenty where she took up the role of Aboriginal Education Worker. She subsequently became a qualified teacher and spent many years working at the Amata School.

Today, Burton is a senior Pitjantjatjara woman – a desert matriarch. A leader in her community, she is the currentVice Chairperson of Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, she teaches Pitjantjatjara at the University of South Australia and is a co-director of the APY Art Centre Collective. Alongside her advocacy work and cultural leadership, Burton is a highly esteemed artist whose large-scale canvases depict her country and Tjukurpa (ancestral law, culture and creation stories) in bold swathes of colour. “Many, many years I’ve been working as a teacher…then I chose to come to work at Tjala Arts [the art centre]… Every day I came to do painting because I’ve got in my head Tjurkupa– that’s all I’m doing.”[1]

[1]Nyunmiti Burton, Radio National, “Beneath the canvas of Tjala Arts”, 14 July, 2015, 15:38 mins

In Kungkarangkalpa – Seven Sisters (2020) Burton paints the ancestral story of the Seven Sisters, a significant Tjukurpathat describes the intergenerational strength of Aṉangu women learning from and protecting one another. Based on two star constellations, the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) are chased by a trickster (Orion) across the land and into the night sky. It is the knowledge and wisdom of the eldest sister that stewards the sisters to safety:

This is the oldest sister, and her leadership guided the other sister away from the dangers of the world. The oldest sister made sure that the seven sisters stayed together and that no one was left behind. The oldest sister protected everyone and made sure all the women were safe. This was the oldest sister’s story and it is the story of all Aboriginal women leaders in Australia today. [1]

Burton learnt Kungkarangkalpa from her own mother. She has early recollections of her mother dancing while her father sang,together performing inma – a complex ceremonial practice for teaching ancestral stories and cultural law through language, song, dance and body paint.

For Burton, painting, as well as singing whilst painting, is key to the transmission of Tjukurpa. It maintains the strength of Aṉangu culture and knowledge. With a bold, brilliant palette and overwhelming scale – the canvas spans nearly three by three metres – Kungkarangkalpa – Seven Sisters isnot just a powerful creation story performed and passed down for thousands of generations, but also a morality tale for today. Burton’s own role as a senior woman and cultural leader is reflected in her transcription of Kungkarangkalpainto paint:

The Seven Sisters story has always been important for Aṉangu women and it is more important today than ever before. It is a story that celebrates women’s leadership. I am proud of my leadership role. This is very serious work.

The spirit of our ancestors watches over us as we celebrate our culture. When I paint my Tjukurpa, when I sing the songs of my Country, I feel the spirit of the ancestors watching me. The women leaders of the Lands who went before us sing alongside the women of today.[2]

[1]Nyunmiti Burton, Art Gallery of New South Wales, “Nyunmiti Burton: Seven Sisters”, 2020

[2]Nyunmiti Burton in Tarnanthi 2021,. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 2021, p44, and Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa, Adelaide: Government of South Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, APY Art Centre Collective, 2020, p70.