Bugai Whyoulter Purungu, b. 1939
48 x 29 7/8 in
"From Tiwa (Canning Stock Route Well 26) we used to travel to Kaalpa (Kalypa, Canning Stock Route Well 23), mummy and daddy used to take us around there, [my sister] Pinyirr and me. From Kaalpa we would go to Jilkupuka (Canning Stock Route Well 21), then to Wangkakalu."
- Bugai Whyoulter, as translated by Ngalangka Nola Taylor
Kaalpa is a permanent water source located northeast of Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). This site lies within Bugai’s ngurra (home Country, camp), the area which she travelled extensively around with her family as a young woman. Kaalpa is also Bugai’s mother’s Country. In her account, Bugai describes the seasonal movement of Martu family groups from water source to water source during the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era. At this time knowledge of water sources was critical for survival, and today Martu Country is still defined in terms of the location and type of water. Each of the hundreds of claypans, rockholes, waterholes, soaks and springs found in the Martu desert homelands is known by name, location, quality and seasonal availability through real life experience and the recounting of Jukurrpa (Dreaming) narratives.