“This is a design from our Pukumani burial ceremonies: it is the pattern we paint on tutuni or grave posts. We have conducted these ceremonies for centuries, well before the Dutch first came to Melville Island 300 years ago. It is hard for us to imagine how far those first Dutch sailors had to travel to get here, but when they got here my people were already doing Pukumani.”

All jilamara (design) are originally drawn from the body painting which accompanied the pukumani (funeral) and kulama (initiation/yam) ceremonies. An individual design and aesthetic is highly valued by Tiwi artists and is representative of their personal interpretation of the traditional Tiwi design or jilamara.