Gaanyji (Shells)

This design is about all the Gaanyji (shells) that we collect on the reef when the tide goes out. 

There’s the long one - Ngoolgna (trumpet shell), that people eat. There’s Rawol the razor shell. Trochus shell (triangle one) was income for Bardi people in the early days. They’d sell it to Italians to make buttons, and the remnants were crushed into powder to polish cars! The meat is also a delicacy: marinate it, pickle it, fry it up, make a curry.

To read more about Gaanyji (Reef Shells) by Janine Mandijalu & Pauline Sampi click here.

- Pauline Sampi & Janine Mandijalu, Ardyaloon Artists