Woven dilly bag handcrafted by Lynne Nadjowh using native pandanus foraged on country, here in Kakadu National Park.
Dimensions: 16cm H x 9cm W
Dilly bag, in Kunwok: bubble or djerr, and in case the dilly bag is sacred you would call it wongkorr. Traditionally the dilly bag was used for collecting bush tucker and carrying everyday items, yet in some cases, they can also have deep ceremonial significance. They were usually made from an-yakngarra (pandanus), sand palm or vines. If the surface of the dilly bag is painted, this implies that it most likely has ceremonial significance.
Dilly bags are also connected to the Creation story in West Arnhem Land and Kakadu. Yingarna, who is known as the Earth Mother, carried 14 dilly bags. There are different dreamtime stories about what these dilly bags brought. Some say, when she put the dilly bags down children would run out of the bags. She would teach the children how to survive, what plants to eat, and gave them a language. Hence she is known as the ‘mother of the tribes’. Other stories say she arrived on this land with a belly full of babies and dilly bags filled with food. In either story, the dilly bags brought life to this land.
This artwork has been purchased directly from an Aboriginal artist in Kakadu National Park or Arnhem Land. Warradjan Cultural Centre is committed to supporting artists, their families and the local community.
