Bronwyn paints Tjala Tjukurpa - Honey Ant Dreaming.
Bronwyn says this is a ‘travelling story’, which started further west, and
ended at Papunya, the ‘resting place’ of this Dreaming. This is Bronwyn’s grandfather’s country. Using a traditional dotting technique, Bronwyn creates
symbols to depict the journey of women to collect the honey ants. The u-shapes
around the central roundels represents the minyma (women) who are digging for
the prized tucker, with their piti (coolamons) and wana (digging sticks) beside
them. Honey ants are insects with swollen abdomens full
of sweet, honey-like nectar, and are a highly sought-after tucker by desert
dwellers. The ants dig tunnels deep into the ground in arid woodland country,
creating branching chambers in the roots of the mulga trees. Aboriginal people
know to look for the ants coming from small holes in the earth, and they know
how to follow the tunnels to reveal the larger nests full of the ants and their
larvae.