Jaliwaki (Bush potato)

Jaliwaki very large edible yam. The flesh is purple yellow or white, it is found on Melville Island around Paru and Pirlangimpi. It features as a central part of the Kulama – or coming of age ceremony which is often represented in Tiwi art by concentric circles. Kulama is held on a round ceremony ground where people of both genders sit, sing, call out to the ancestors and tell stories to young people. The yams are prepared in the middle of the ceremony ground over three days and nights and on the third day they are eaten and mixed with red ochre to create body paint.