Item X 92082 Mubareriri or Muraradi | Ornament, arm. East Alligator River, Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. pre 1922

Summary

In 2004 a group of artists from western Arnhem Land visited the museum and these armbands took their interest, being amongst the few objects that provoked interest and discussion beyond the conical baskets and string bags and bark paintings collected over a hundred years before due to the collaboration of Baldwin Spencer and Paddy Cahill. They recognised these as having been painted to be worn by young girls, and the designs themselves serving as a reminder of 'the old people story' ie. the stories of the ancestors from whom all ritual and customary knowledge and practices are derived.

Local Name

Mubareriri or Muraradi

Physical Description

A circular interlaced armband made of vine painted with natural pigments. It has a base of red ochre base painted with six horizontal rows of white dots.