Hawana - Is Tiwi For Hello

Friday 23rd June 2006

Hawana, how are you? Hawana is Tiwi for hello.

This little moppet hid around the trees as we approached and peeked around and smiled shyly. His name is Bom Bom. which I was told means bottom.

Tiwi Design, located on Bathurst Island, started from a small Catholic Presbytery in 1969. Two young men, Bede Tungatalum and Giovanni Tipungwuti, worked with the art teacher, Madeline Clear, to produce woodblock prints.

The artists soon began to transfer their designs onto silk screens and printing textiles quickly became a major activity. Today, Tiwi Design artists provide diverse works across many mediums, including fine art sculptures and paintings.

This bird was created at Tiwi Design at Nguiu on Bathurst Island and was hand carved by Mario Munkara whose artwork is fine and therefore higher priced.





Another lady also wanted to purchase it. I made sure not to put it down while I contemplated buying it as it was fairly expensive. I'm glad I bought it.
Mr. Munkara goes "walkabout" selects a suitable branch which he brings back to carve. On the day I visited I was fortunate as he had just returned that morning and kindly consented to pose with me.

Ngaruwanajirri Arts Centre
One of the ladies who make beautiful paintings.
Tiwi Art


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Mindil Market

Playing the didgeridoo.

Above: Playing the didgeridoo.

The Mindil Beach Sunset Market is a Darwin institution. Held every Thursday and Sunday from May to October there are many stalls offerning food, arts, crafts and entertaiment. Try some of the international cuisine - Turkish, Greek, South American, Sri Lanka, North African and many others. Or perhaps pack a picnic and sit on the beach watching the sunset.

Above: Chinese Violin player.

Stroll among the tarot card readers, leatherworkers, jewellers and artists. Listen to the free live street theatre, magicians and buskers. The young man in the first photo was giving a didgeredoo demonstration, while in the second, is a Chinese violin player.

Darwin 2006 - Galleries & Gardens

Monday 19th June 2006

After a late start to the day, I did a sightseeing tour with AAT Kings at 2.00PM.


One of the places we visited was the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory which is located at 19 Conacher Street Bullocky Point Fannie Bay, and set in a tropical garden on Darwin Harbour.

Darwin Harbour












I felt privileged to see paintings by Albert Namatjira - one of Australia's great artists, and perhaps the best known Aboriginal painter.

Above: "Ghost Gums" by Albert Namatjira


Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the Botanic Gardens which has, among other things, this beautiful fountain. It gets switched off at 5.00PM and we were lucky enough to arrive in time.

Fountain at George Brown Botanic Gardens






Location Details - Museum & Art Gallery


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Top End Panorama

Top End Map

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Tiwi Islands - Church and Culture

Friday 23rd June 2006
Our guides Teabag and John told us of Fr Francis Xavier Gsell who established an Aboriginal mission at Nguiu on Bathurst Island in 1910 and worked there until 1938. During Bishop Gsell’s time, Catholic schools were established in Darwin, on Bathurst Island (two schools: St Therese’s and Xavier Boys’ Schools), and at the Santa Teresa Mission in Central Australia.


The story of Creation of the Tiwi Islands is a fascinating one. When the earth was flat and in darkness, an old blind woman, Mudungkala rose out of the ground during Palaneri time (dreaming) carrying three infants. and started going north. In her tracks, the fresh water that bubbled forth became the Dundas Strait.

After travelling on, forming the Tiwi Islands and their waterways in her wake, she then said the islands were to be inhabited with animals and covered with vegetation so that her three children would have food. She moved south, leaving her children behind and disappeared.

The Dundas Strain separates Melville and Bathurst Island from Mainland Australia and Nguiu is around 80 kms north of Darwin.
The interior of St. Therese's Roman Catholic Church is beautifully decorated in the Tiwi design.


Teabag told us the Tiwis follow the old rules - strict rules by today's standards in Australia and elsewhere.

Brothers and sisters are not allowed to talk to each other after puberty. If he wanted to give his sister a book, he must leave it in a place - he indicated the hollow of a tree. A message would be sent along by several people, and then his sister would come and collect the book.

Not until they were both old and grey haired could they meet and speak with each other.

There are four skin groups - mullet, pandanus, sun and stone - and when a young man is looking for a wife, two of those groups are taboo. Talking to a member of the opposite sex from the wrong skin group meant a very harsh punishment - they were beaten with a long punishment stick which broke their knees and elbows. Today it is more modern - the family gets together and gives them a flogging with smaller sticks.

Tiwi Islands

Friday 23rd June 2006

100 kms north of Darwin the TIWI ISLANDS are Bathurst and Melville Islands. The Aboriginal population call themselves the Tiwi people. You can’t arrive on the islands unannounced and tour around – there are no facilities to do so. You must go with an organised tour or fishing group.

The Tiwi people are world famous for their art - traditional forms of paintings on bark and canvas, wood carvings, silk screened cloth, weaving and pottery. Paintings can be found hanging in major art galleries world wide. There are several art galleries on both islands. You can purchase directly from the artists. The Tiwis are also famous for their love of sports in particular Australian Rules Football with several men holding important positions in the AFL.

Nicknamed the Islands of Smiles, Tiwi people are coastal Aboriginals with a culture different to those on the mainland. Their strong traditions are still a very important part of everyday life today and they've successfully combined both traditional and modern lifestyles and have combined Christianity with their old culture/religion.

The Arafura Pearl

The shuttle bus picked me up around 7.30am from the hostel and dropped us off at Cullen Bay. The ferry the Arafura Pearl departed at 8.00am for a 2 hour trip to the Tiwi Islands. We had coffee at 8.15 and morning tea at 9am - chocolate muffin, cheese and biscuits, and a nice hot cuppa coffee. I had paid $20 extra to be on the upper deck which gave wonderful views of the ocean and it is so relaxing feeling the wind in your hair as you cruise on the water.



The Tiwi flag

The Tiwi flag is made up of part of the N.T. flag.

The stripes represent ochre that is used in their ceremonies and art.
The spear is a fighting spear and represents protection of the clan lands and the pukemani poles are male and female and the designs represent all the Tiwi clans.

The whole flag is pukemani.

As we neared Nguiu, we all carefully went from the ferry to another small boat which basically was a large piece of timber with drums underneath to keep it afloat. The Tiwi people were very friendly and greeted us with wide smiles.