YAM-PEOPLE

COLORS used in this artwork are derived from natural pigments of ground clay, tea, wild berries, saffron and blended with burnt sienna and raw umber.

BACKGROUND is eggshell and smooth. Edges of prepared board are heavily textured; very rock-like and irregular in shape.

SIZE is 16” H x 14”W

CULTURAL INSPIRATION: Anthropomorphic “Yam-People” are featured in this group of rock paintings done in Mimi Art. Their location is the Deaf Adder Creek, Kolondjorluk area in Arnhem Land. There are three yams in the shape of human beings. Much of this information has been handed down from the Aboriginal people. They say that the shoots of the plants represent human hair and the long roots are the limbs and bodies of the figures. The small lines protruding from the yam-people are the short roots of the yam plant. Roots and tubers play a large part in the Aboriginal diet. Yams were also believed to hold powerful properties and used in ritualistic medicine. They were often used on children, purportedly to make them stronger. When a baby was strong enough to roll over on its side, it was exposed to the steam and smoke of a baked yam. After the yam was peeled but still warm, it was applied to the child’s body as a treatment, making him fearless.