The name for bird in Tiwi language is “Tokwampini”. Specifically, Tokwampini was the messenger in the pukumani (ceremonial burial rites) mythology, it was he who told the Tiwi ancestral creation man Purukaparli that his wife Bima had committed adultery with her brother-in-law Tapara (the moon). This event lead to the mortality of the Tiwi people, the first death, the first funeral or Pukumani. Tokwampini became a jabiru (native crane), but tokwampini is a common Tiwi name for bird. Birds were humans long ago. When Purukuparli said "I will have a big ceremony for my son" the birds heard. There were pelicans, owls and all sorts of birds. One of the birds spoke to Purukuparli and said "If you are having ceremony, we will give you feathers for your headband, armbands and goose feather ball to decorate yourself so you won't be recognised by the spirit of the dead."

Melville and Bathurst Islands are collectively known as the Tiwi Islands, the home of the Tiwi people. The Tiwi People have occupied the islands since at least the last ice age, when the islands were separated from the mainland approximately 11,000 years ago. After years of isolation the Tiwi have a unique language and culture, including dance, song and art. The islands are 8,320 square kilometres of eucalypt, paperbark and monsoon vine forest, coastal wetlands, secluded waterfalls and deserted beaches. An extensive and magnificent array of barely touched mangrove lined river and creek systems, sand flats and coastal reefs, all abundant with marine life, means the Islands are an unspoiled paradise. In addition to its natural beauty and marine life, which also includes crocodiles, dolphins, sea turtles and dugong, the Islands are also home to a stunning array of bird and animal life, such as buffalo, wallabies, bandicoots, flying fox, kingfishers, jabiru, parrots, eagles, falcons and hawks plus countless varieties of water and wading birds. There are some 56 species of birds, 27 species of reptiles and 19 species of mammals. Most of these animals and birds have creation ceremonial association such as that described above. These are often portrayed in Tiiwi art along with renditions of a secular nature that each artist represents in unique style. Most Tiwi carvings are made from Kartukini or Ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys). This sculpture was made at Tiwi Designs on Bathust Island.