Pitjantjatjara glossary

Minyma - Woman
            
Kutjara - Two

Ngura - Place / camp / home

Punu - Tree / bush / timber, refers to both the material as well as the things carved from it.

Tjanpi - Spinifex grass, refers to both the material as well as the sculpture form.

Tjukurpa - A religious term glossed as ‘the Dreaming’ in English, a period when features of the land were created by the actions of the Ancestors who then went into the ground or up into the sky where they remain today.

Western Desert - a term that refers to a group of similar cultures who speak related but different languages. These groups live in the west of the central desert area of Australia.

Minyma tjuta - Many woman

Inma - Song

Papunya movement - Starting at Papunya (northwest of Alice Springs) in the early 70s, famous for “dot paintings”.  Influential in the establishment of a commercial market for Aboriginal contemporary art domestically and in international spheres.

Country - Broader and more significant than “land” in English, denotes place with belonging, responsibility and animate with spirit.

Rikina - Flash/fancy/stylish

Walka - Desert design [specifically from Ernabella seen on the batik]

Tjala - Honey ants

Ninti - Knowledgeable

Batik - Indonesian dyeing technique using hand drawn wax and a sequence of dyes