The place called Wäṉḏawuy belongs only to the Djapu’ clan. The patterns in our paintings tell the story of mäṉa, the ancestral shark that traveled inland from a place called Dharrwar Binyanpi in Djambarrpuyŋu Country. He travelled inland because he had been speared with a barbed spear by a spirit man named Ganbulapula. As mäṉa went on his journey, traveling from place to place, he named all of the estates of the Dhuwa people. At Djätjiwuy he rested, because he was tired from the spear wound. This gave him the energy to keep going, but soon mäṉa grew weak. Yet still he traveled, stopping at Dhikuwuy and then at Makarr Djambarrpuyŋu, until he reached Wäṉḏawuy.

– Wäka Munuŋgurr

Mäṉa (the ancestral shark) resides at the artist’s freshwater homeland at Wäṉḏawuy. This is represented by the sacred Djapu' clan design for fresh water, the squares of cross hatching. mäṉa is facing the entrance to his underground system of waterways. Meŋa has shown the different “levels” of fresh water by the bands of alternating colours.

A similar design in the lower section of the painting represents the shades erected for fishing. In the river systems at Wäṉḏawuy, catfish are caught with scoop nets. This also represents part of a songline involving the unsuccessful netting of the ancestral shark during the Waŋarr (Ancestral Times). The shark’s thrashing in the net is a metaphor for the release of the Djapu' soul during mortuary rites.

– Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Centre