‘Songspirals are often called songlines or song cycles. In our book, we call them songspirals as they spiral out and spiral in, they go up and down, round and round, forever. They are a line within a cycle. They are infinite. They spiral, connecting and remaking. They twist and turn, they move and loop. This is like all our songs. Our songs are not a straight line. They do not move in one direction through time and space. They are a map we follow through Country as they connect to other clans. Everything is connected, layered with beauty. Each time we sing our songspirals we learn more, go deeper, spiral in and spiral out.‘ – Gay’wumirr Miyalk Mala
Wuymirri, the Whale
Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu, a leader of the Gumatj clan shares her own versions of Wuymirri in Gumatj and Warramirri clan languages.
Artwork: Deturru Yunupiŋu (Gaymala’s god-daughter), Lamamirri-Yumbulul (1997). (The Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre archives)