Witi Jukurrpa

The owners of the Witi Jukurrpa are the Jungarrayi & Japaljarri men and the Nungarrayi & Napaljarri women. Witi are 10-12 foot long ceremonial poles with Ngapiri (Red River Gum) and Wurrkali (Desert Bloodwood) leaves tied to them from top to bottom. The young men dance with the Witi tied to their shins using Ngalyipi. They dance up and down with slightly bent knees causing the poles to shake and sway and make noise that scare away spirits. 

The site often depicted in Warlpiri paintings representing this Dreaming is Yanjirlpiri (meaning Star) where there is a small hill and a number of water soakages and rockholes. The ceremonial importance of this place cannot be overemphasised, as young boys are taken there to be initiated from as far away as the Pitjantjatjara Lands to the south and Lajamanu far to the north. This Dreaming site is part of a set of major Dreaming tracks that begin at Kurlungalinpa in the north, by Lajamanu, and travel southward through Purrpalala, Ngarlpiyi, Pangka, Rlipinpa, Purlkurra, Warnirripatu, Yirrinpa, Manjankurrku and Kunajarrayi to Yanjirlpiri. These Dreamings include Karnta Jukurrpa, Ngalyipi Jukurrpa and Wati-Jarra Jukurrpa. After travelling to Yanjirlpiri the Dreamings then move further west to Lappi Lappi and Yininti-Walku-Walku near Lake Mackay by the West Australian border. Yanjirlpiri is also important due to it's location close to an important Janganypa Jukurrpa site. 

In this Witi Jukurrpa, Japaljarri and Jungarrayi men travelled to the south from Kurlungalinpa to Yanjirlpiri to perform kurdiji (men's initiation ceremonies). Men's initiation ceremonies are performed in the hot summer months. Women also play a major role in men's initiation ceremonies. The Napaljarri and Nungarrayi women will perform dances.