Babatha Nganga (Gum Flower) by Dora Deemal

This is a design about gum nut flowers – which we call Babatha Nganga in Guugu Yimithirr. Babatha grows around here, around the bush. Our gum trees come out with white flowers during the winter-time (but I’ve seen pink and red in Cairns). It’s beautiful to see them on top of the hills – white amongst the green. There’s lots you can do with Babatha. The dead gum trees are good for making cooking fires; we cook damper and fish on the coals of that kind of tree. We make necklaces from the nuts; and you can make a whistle out of the gum nut. The bees make lovely honey from the flowers.

This design was created at the HopeVale Arts and Culture Centre during a workshop with Cairns based Textile artist Bobbie Rueben.