JOE NGALLAMETTA SENIOR - THAP YONK

 JOE NGALLAMETTA SENIOR
THAP YONK,  2004
H: 202 cm - Dia. base: 80 cm - Dia. top: 113 cm
natural earth pigments on wood
 
PROVENANCE
Snake River, QLD
Andrew Baker Gallery Private Collection, Qld2004 Kang'khan Brothers Exhibition 
 
STORY
The artist was one of the few remaining Kugu language speakers and was a senior lawman for the Kangā€™khan people of Snake river, south of Aurukun on Cape York Peninsula. He  was, until hi s death in 2005, the senior carver at the Wik and Kugu Art Centre in Aurukun.Senior singer/carver for the following sories: Two Men (Kangā€™khan Brothers), Thap Yongk 9Law Poles), Wallaby, Snake and Ducks.Totems: magpie Goose/Sea Turtle (Mother)Kookaburra (Father)Thap yongk (Law poles)ā€�There were these two brothers  .  .  .  at the creation of the world only these two people, they were human, they left these two poles, they made  .  .  .  songs, Iā€™m making these poles now because they left these poles and how they paintedā€™ā€“ Joe NgallamettaThe Thap yongk relate to the most fundamental issues of Indigenous Australian culture ā€” the inter-relationships of land, culture and the creation time. Senior Kugu Elder Joe Ngallametta makes a direct connection between his Thap yongk and the poles made ā€�at the creation of the worldā€™.The Thap yongk represent knowledge about peopleā€™s affiliations with the land and their responsibilities and rights within its boundaries. While this knowledge and authority are provided through the Dreaming, they play a current and ongoing role within the community. The knowledge represented by the Thap yongk is held in trust by Elders such as Ngallametta and is passed on to the younger members of the community.Representing upturned trees, the Thap yongk extend from the ground, suggesting branches hidden beneath the earth, while the roots are at the top of the poles. The poles draw the spirit back to the ground, the ā€�hiddenā€™ branches symbolising the extensive network of stories and laws connecting people to the land and to each other.The Thap yongk are usually only seen by the men of the community, but Ngallametta has given permission for these poles to be shared with the larger community, stating: ā€�I know your laws: now you can understand mineā€™.This traditional Thap Yongk (law pole) are still used for ceremonial practice, in particular the Wanam Dance, which features a larger group of the poles. They represent uprooted trees (the arms at the top are the tree roots turned upside-down) that extend from the ground. The roots draw on the spirit, returning it to the earth, back to country, and are significant to the song and dance for Wanam law and the Kugu culture. They are left after the ceremony behind for the spirit, and the milkwood decays and eventually returns to country too. He once explained: ā€�Any people buy it, they come to my spirit, it is drawing in the spirit, this is for my relations and they learn it, it is law, when I die, I come back as this pole, this my lifeā€™. (Joe Ngallametta, interview with Trish Johnson (nee Barnard), Aurukun, September 2002)
 
EXHIBITED
Dream Catchers - Featuring Maningrida, October 2012, Coo-ee Art Galleryhome is where the art is, September 2012, Coo-ee Art GalleryMetamorphosis-Contemporary Indigenous Sculptures and Objects, October 2009, Coo-ee Art GalleryIā€™Nageen Sculpture & Paintings from Aurukun, May 2009, Coo-ee Art GalleryMaunsel Wickes, July 2007, Maunsell Wickes