Ngatijirri Jukurrpa

An important site often depicted in paintings of Ngatijirri Jukurrpa is a place called Yangarnmpi which is found to the South of Yuendumu in Central Australia. Ngatijirri or Budgerigars are small bright green birds which are native to Central Australia and are commonly found in the Yuendumu area. They can be seen especially after the summer rains. Men would traditionally hunt for Ngatijirri nests robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds which are both considered delicacies. The men would also go out hunting for adults and flying Ngatijirri which they would kill by swinging branches, killing sticks or boomerangs to hit the birds in flight. 

In the Dreamtime the Budgerigar travelled to Yangarnmpi from Patirlirri, near Willowra to the East of Yuendumu and travelled further on to Marngangi which is North-West of Mount Dennisonand West of Yuendumu. Each time the flock of ancestral Budgerigar lands they perform ceremonies, singing and dancing as they fly and roost in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are often depicted in artworks as concentric circles, while the cross like shapes as depicted in this artwork by Dora Napaljarri Kitson represent the footprints of the birds on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks of Budgerigar that can be found near Yangarnmpiand other sites close to Yuendumu. 

After good rains Budgerigar can successfully breed several times resulting in an explosion of the population in a short time. Custodians of the Budgerigar Dreaming are the Napaljarri and Nungarrayi women and the Japaljarri and Jungarrayi men.