Sometimes you see the little spider in the pandanus, her name is Pwanga and she’s the first one to do painting. She made tunga baskets (Traditional bark basket) and she painted with ochre. She passed on to us her knowledge and that’s how Tiwi women know how to make tunga and to paint because she taught us.

To make tunga we take the bark from the stringybark tree. We Strip it, fold it in half and dry it out over the fire. We stitch the sides using a kangaroo bone. Finally, we paint Jilamara (good design) using ochres.