The Tingari (Tingarri) cycle in
Australian Aboriginal mythology
Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the Aboriginal Australian languages, language groups across Australia in their Aboriginal ce ...
embodies a vast network of
Aboriginal Dreaming (''tjukurpa'')
songlines
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
that traverse the
Western Desert region of Australia (
Graham 2002). Locations and events associated with the Tingari cycle are frequently the subject of
Aboriginal Art
Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...
from the region (
Perkins & Fink 2000).
Narratives and itineraries
The Tingari Men were a group of ancestral elders who − in the
Dreaming − travelled over vast areas of the
Western Desert, performing rituals and creating or "opening up" the country (
Perkins & Fink 2000:278) They were usually accompanied by recently initiated novices to whom they provided instruction in the ritual and law of the region (
Myers 1986:59-64). The adventures of the Tingari groups are enshrined in numerous song-myth cycles which provide explanations for contemporary customs in
Western Desert aboriginal life (
Perkins & Fink 2000:278;
Berndt 1970:222-223;
Berndt & Berndt 1996:266-267). Deep knowledge of Tingari business is restricted to men possessing appropriate levels of seniority in
Western Desert society, but many stories have "public versions" which do not disclose secret/sacred knowledge.
In the Tingari heartland of the
Gibson Desert
The Gibson Desert is a large desert in Western Australia, largely in an almost "pristine" state. It is about in size, making it the fifth largest desert in Australia, after the Great Victoria, Great Sandy, Tanami and Simpson deserts. The ...
, three major journey-lines can be discerned (
Myers 1986:62). One begins west of Jupiter Well and eventually runs due east, concluding south-east of
Lake Mackay
Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous Pintupi people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout the Pilbara and northern parts of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia and the Norther ...
; another heads south-west from near
Kintore for some 200 km, and then doubles back to end at Lake Macdonald; the third runs from south to north through
Docker River
Kaltukatjara , also known as Docker River, is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is southwest of Alice Springs, west of the Stuart Highway, near the Western Australia and Northern Territory bord ...
and
Kintore. At the many sites that make up these
songlines
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...
, groups of Tingari people held ceremonies, experienced adversity and had adventures, in the course of which they either created or became the physical features of the sites involved. In mythological terms, Tingari exploits often add to or modify features at pre-existing sites, or revive and extend more ancient local
Dreamings (
Kimber 2000:273). The oral narratives that describe these adventures stretch to thousands of verses, and provide countless topographical details that would assist
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic bands to navigate and survive in the arid landscape (
Petri 1970:263).
In
Pintupi
The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...
narratives, the male Tingari groups are usually followed by groups of women who may be accompanied by children. The more public women's stories usually revolve around the gathering and preparation of bush foods (
Perkins & Fink 2000:281-290). However, other narratives relate to a group of powerful ancestor women – the Kanaputa (Ganabuda) or Mungamunga (
Berndt 1972:208;
Poirier 2005:130) – who often travelled in a Tingari ritual group (
Myers 1976:188). These Tingari women were sometimes accompanied by young girls, whom they provided with ritual education (
Berndt 1970:225), and were often followed by (or following) groups of Tingari men. Many of the Kukatja stories collected at
Balgo relate to the Kanaputa (
Berndt 1970:222;
Poirier 2005:77-79).
Art
Tingari-related visual designs, such as those used in ceremonial body and
ground paintings, are usually considered "dear" rather than "dangerous" by traditional owners, which may explain why so many artists have concentrated on the Tingari in paintings produced for public display and sale by
Papunya Tula
Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...
(
Myers 1989:179). Even so, the more esoteric elements of these designs were usually modified or omitted by the artists (
Myers 2002:64-66), and this is particularly true of recent works. "Classical" Tingari cycle paintings typically contain a network of roundels (concentric circles, which often signify sites) interlinked by lines (which often indicate travel) (
Bardon 1991:66, 85-86, 94, 128;
Perkins & Fink 2000:180-181, 229).
See also
*
Wati kutjara, another major song-myth cycle from the
Western Desert
References
*
Bardon, G. (1991) ''Papunya Tula - Art of the Western Desert.'' J.B. Books, Australia.
*
Berndt, R.M. (1970) Traditional Morality as Expressed Through the Medium of an Australian Aboriginal Religion, in Berndt, R.M., ed., ''Australian Aboriginal Anthropology: Modern Studies in the Social Anthropology of the Australian Aborigines''. Western Australia University Press, Nedlands.
*
Berndt, R.M. (1972) The Walmadjeri and Gugadja, in ''Hunters & Gatherers Today: A Socioeconomic Study of Eleven Such Cultures in the Twentieth Century'', ed. M.G. Bicchieri, p.177-216. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
*{{citation , date=1996 , last1=Berndt , first1=Ronald Murray , authorlink=Ronald Berndt , last2=Berndt , first2=Catherine Helen , authorlink2=Catherine Berndt , title=The World of the First Australians - Aboriginal Traditional Life: Past and Present , place=Canberra , publisher=Aboriginal Studies Press , isbn=0-85575-184-3 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjYvRxUzzgMC&q=%22the+world+of+the+first+australians%22 , accessdate=16 September 2010 , postscript= First published 1964 by Ure Smith, Sydney
*
Graham, L.D. (2002) The Nature and Origins of the Tingari Cycle. Online research paper at AusAnthrop
Article
/cite>
*Kimber, R.G. (2000) ''Tjukurrpa Trails: A Cultural Topography of the Western Desert'', in Perkins, H. & Fink, H., eds., Papunya Tula - Genesis & Genius. Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.
*Myers, F.R. (1976) ''To Have and to Hold: a Study of Persistence and Change in Pintupi Social Life.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, PA.
*Myers, F.R. (1986) ''Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place and Politics among Western Desert Aborigines.'' Univ. California Press.
*Myers, F.R. (2002) ''Painting Culture - the Making of an Aboriginal High Art.'' Duke University Press.
*Perkins, H. & Fink, H., eds. (2000) ''Papunya Tula - Genesis & Genius.'' Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, in association with Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.
*Petri, H. (1970) Stability and Change: Present-day Historic Aspects among Australian Aborigines, in Berndt, R.M., ed., ''Australian Aboriginal Anthropology: Modern Studies in the Social Anthropology of the Australian Aborigines'', p.248-276. Western Australia University Press, Nedlands.
*Poirier, S. (2005) ''A World of Relationships: Itineraries, Dreams and Events in the Australian Western Desert.'' Univ. Toronto Press.
External links
*Onlin
overview
of the Tingari cycle.
Tingari Cycle painting
interview with Aboriginal artist Ronnie Tjampitjinpa.
by Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, held in an Australian public gallery.
Australian Aboriginal mythology