TJAYANKA WOODS

Tjayanka Woods was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist. Born around 1935, near Kalaya Pirti (Emu Water) near Mimili and Wataru, South Australia, she lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle as a child in the bush with her parents. 

 

Tjayanka Woods was one of the pioneer women of the painting movement now known as the NPY and APY lands art movement, which sprang from the Pitjanjatjarra and Ngaanyatjarra lands on the tri-state borders of WA, SA and the NT at the start of the millennium.

 

In her paintings, Tjayanka refers to the Kungkarrangkalpa Tjurkurpa (Seven Sisters). They are structured like mud-maps, tracing the journey of the sisters around the perimeter of the canvas showing the rock-holes and land formations created by the sisters as they walked through the country together. Incorporated into the paintings is the flight of the eagle, her grandfather, who flies above the path of the sisters. “This is my father’s country close up to Irrunytju. The sisters were travelling through this country. My grandfather, he is this eagle in my painting. You can see where he flew, she will tell you".

 

Tjayanka Woods was one of the artists featured in the National Gallery of Australia's groundbreaking exhibition Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters. The touring exhibition (shown in Canberra, Plymouth, Paris, Berlin and Tampere, Finland) used multimedia, painting, sculpture, and even VR to immerse viewers in the story and land. 

(https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/songlines-touring

The story of the Seven Sisters is a powerful and ancient Dreaming (or Dreamtime) narrative shared by many Indigenous groups across Australia, all relating to the Pleiades star cluster. While versions differ across language groups and regions, the core elements of the story are strikingly consistent and deeply rooted in culture, astronomy, and the land.

 

The Pitjantjatjara version of the Seven Sisters Dreaming—known as Kungkarangkalpa—is one of the most detailed and widespread Aboriginal Dreaming stories. It's rich in symbolism, geography, and cultural significance.

 

In Western astronomy, the Pleiades are known as the Seven Sisters—a group of stars in the constellation Taurus. Aboriginal Australians have long recognised these stars, often seeing them as a group of women or sisters travelling together.

 

The Dreaming story tells of a group of ancestral women, usually seven, travelling across the land. They are being chased by a man (often from the Orion constellation, named Wati Nyiru in the Pitjantjatjara version, but also known as Tjakamara, or other names depending on the region). The story follows the Seven Sisters as they flee from Wati Nyiru, who is constantly trying to deceive or trap them in order to seduce or capture them. He uses magic, disguise (he might become a tree, a rock, or a kangaroo), and trickery, but the sisters remain clever, elusive, and resilient.

 

As the sisters move across the land to escape him, they leave behind geological features, waterholes, and sacred sites—creating a vast songline that spans hundreds of kilometres across Western and Central Australia. This songline connects Pitjantjatjara,Yankunytjatjara, and other Western Desert communities, and is encoded in songs, dances, ceremonies, and artworks. It also acts as a map and a moral code, guiding behaviour and knowledge about Country.

 

Wati Nyiru, portrayed as a tricky and obsessive man, is used as a lesson in inappropriate desire, lack of respect for consent, and misuse of power. The story highlights the women's solidarity, intelligence, and spiritual strength in resisting him. Eventually, the sisters escape into the sky, becoming the Pleiades, and the man becomes a part of Orion, eternally chasing them across the night sky.

 

Interestingly, stories of the Pleiades as "seven sisters" also appear in Greek mythology, Native American traditions, Maori lore, and others—suggesting a deep, perhaps ancient human connection to this star cluster.