Mabel Juli Wiringgoon Gija, b. 1929
47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in
This important painting encompasses Mabel Juli's three main dreaming stories - that of the star, the moon and the woman singing out for her dog. The story of Garn'giny Ngarranggarni - The Star and Moon Dreamtime as told by Mabel to linguist Frances Kofod follows: "Well this the dreamtime story about Wardal and Garn’giny (star and moon). That’s what my mother and dad told me about that Dreamtime thing. "Garn’giny ngelmang roord-ngarri nginji. The moon sits in the east. Wardal dal gerloorr ngarrgalen. The star sits on top of the hills. Laarne berdij nginiyi danyi garn’giny. The moon went and climbed that hill.
Wijige-ngarri ngoorramangbe-ngiyiwa thamboorroo-gal. They made him run away because he loved his mother-in-law.
(That moon loved his mother in-law, but they told him he couldn’t love her and to go away.) Ganybelgbe nginini.
He felt shame (and climbed up the hill). Gerlewirring deg nginini. He was looking from on top [of the hill]. Nginini-birri “Nanggayib barrroonnha.” He told all the people “You will all die.” Nginini-birri “Ngayimoowana mooliyinde ngenben’ge. He told them “I will be the only one living”. (He cursed those people.) “Boora-boorab ngeliyande” wanemayi-birri melagawoom dam, woorrji-ngarri berrani yilag. “I will keep coming back” he told them all, while they were sitting down below. (You are all going to die and I will be still alive, coming out.) “Daam merrgernbem boorarrgarr ngeliyande.” “After three days camp I will rise from the dead.” Nanggayibwa berrayin-gili namoowana ngininji.They all died and he was the only one that stayed alive. Merrgern daam nginji boorab ngidji, daam merrgernbem." He camps (sleeps ~ dies) for three days then appears (again as the moon), after three days.
This is Yarin country in Darrajayin (Springvale Station) which lies south of Warmun. This is Juli's traditional country.
The star in the paintings is the promised wife of the moon, the straight skin to be his wife. He wanted dawool, the woman who became the black headed python who was the mother of wardal, the star, i.e. his mother-in-law.
The hill in the painting represents the site of this story and also that of the Woman Singing out for her Dog. This ancient story relates events on Darrajayin country in the Ngarranggarni (Dreaming). An old old woman had called for her dog (marranyji, an old wild dingo) who had chased a kangaroo (jiyirriny) across the country, following the kangaroo into a cave. That old woman followed the dog and called the dog, but the kangaroo grabbed the dog and kept him from going to the woman who tried to find her dog, to no avail. Today the woman can be seen as a stone figure standing up with her stick on top of the hill.