Naata Nungarrayi
D.O.B
c.1932
Birthsite
Kumil,nr Pollock Hills,W.A.
Language
Ngaatjatjarra/Pintupi
Historical
Naata and her family walked into Papunya from Wala Wala in the Gibson Desert. This was prior to the location of the last group of desert dwellers making contact with the Native Welfare patrols headed by Jeremy Long. Naata is the sister of Nancy Nungurrayi and George Tjungarrayi and now she lives at Kintore with her family. She is the mother of Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa and Tituan Ross.
Painting
Naata commenced painting in the mid 1990’s. Her “tjukurrpa” or dreaming stories, depict women’s ceremonies around the sacred waterhole known as “Marrapinta” west of the Kiwirrkurra community. The women are gathering “kampurapara” or desert raisin from the solanum centrale plant species common to Central Australia. The fruit is eaten directly from the plant and can also be ground into a flour and baked in the hot coals. Naata depicts her homeland “ngura” as an aerial perspective and includes such features as the “tali” or sandhills, “puli” or rock outcrops and “punti” or vegetation. Naata’s work has been published on the official Australian postage stamp in 2003. She has become one of the most recognised of the senior women artists from the western desert region.
