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This is a story of the Gwion Gwion (also known as Kira Kiro or Bradshaw figures). Some are hunters, and some are dancers, and some are the servants of the...
This is a story of the Gwion Gwion (also known as Kira Kiro or Bradshaw figures). Some are hunters, and some are dancers, and some are the servants of the Wandjina. Gwion Gwion figures are found in rock art around Kalumburu. They didn’t have brushes in the old days. Our ancestors used to draw with their hands or for paintbrushes, they would use speargrass or chew the end of bush bamboo They used to use kangaroo blood and red ochre as paint. They would mix the ochre with the red gum from the white tree. Sylvia's Dreaming is Rock Kangaroo who was speared in the leg and captured by her father before being born in Wyndham. A birthmark signifies this event. Her father was from Gunmunyah and came to Kalumburu by canoe with his older brother, Waigan Djanghara. He worked as a stockman and met Sylvia's mother, Phillipena, when she was 16. They got married at the Kalumburu Catholic Church. Sylvia is one of fourteen children and learned to paint by watching her Uncle Waigan Djanghara & Aunty Lily Karadada. Sylvia conti????nues to paint the traditi????ons of the Wandjina, which is prevalent in the rock art throughout the northern Kimberley region.