Pukumani Tutuni (burial Pole)

This painting shows the design of a Tiwi Pukumani pole, or burial pole. When a person dies, everyone goes to the place where the lines intersect with the circle for a ceremony. The same design is used as a body painting. Different clans in different areas come together for the mourning ceremony. Some sit in some areas; others sit in other areas. The ceremony goes for two days. Before the ceremony, the in-laws of the deceased person make the poles. The elders get together and hand over the ochre to the workers. They get an axe or a chainsaw and cut down the trees (bloodwood) to make the poles. The in-laws pay the family of the person who has died, perhaps in material, bags, money or beer, for the celebration afterwards.