Mokuy – Larrakitj

This is the of Mokuy on Larrakitj- in the olden days Larrakitj held the bones of the dead and were an important part of the funeral ceremony.

The mokuy (spirit) is from the Dhuwa moiety. His name is Djuwaḻpaḏa, and he walked down from the north. The bones are for the people that have passed away that may be in the caves or coffin logs.

When someone passes away, we all gather together to sing and dance. The mokuy is an important part of this ceremony and these paintings represent his role in this part of our culture. The story of the mokuy passed from our old people and he’s still here now. We are still following their footsteps, painting on bark. We still sing his songline. I follow the old people, using the traditional rarrk painting style, but I use my own bright colours, new way. I’m using the old with the new. The bright colours show the picture really good. I paint that mokuy again and again, but he never changes. Always carrying his tools and dillybags.

He’s been with us here for thousands of years. It is really important for us Wägilak people because we use these songs for ceremony and funerals.