Burial Sites by Jock Puautjimi

Tiwi people believe that the dead person’s existence in the living world is not finished until the completion of a Pukumani ceremony, in which the spirit of the dead person (mobiditi) goes into the spirit world. The ceremony occurs about six months after the deceased has been buried, and culminates in the erection of Pukumani poles; gifts to placate the spirit of the dead, which symbolise the status and prestige of the deceased. The poles are placed around the burial site during the Pukumani ceremony.

This design was originally created in the 1990s as a lino cut, and was adapted to a larger screen at Megalo in Canberra in 2012. It depicts: “The special taboo places called Pukumani. We place Pukumani poles around burial sites during our final Pukumani Ceremony. Until this final ceremony we are not allowed to go near these burial sites.”