Doctoral Thesis
‘Mulyamaru’s Daughters’ and the Minyma Pampa of Patjarr
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Murdoch University
2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60867/00000121
Abstract
Let us share stories, tjukurrpa, of the spirit beings inside human bodies. Stories told by the older women of a small, scarcely populated Aboriginal community called Patjarr. These spirit beings are active, have their own agency, entering and leaving human bodies, with the capacity to travel hundreds of kilometres in an instant, precocious, brazen, wilful, their personalities inform that of their human host. Stories of their antics are widely and publicly shared for they bring comfort, can heal horrendous wounds, protect and nurture, wreak havoc. Of all their characteristics, their superpower is to connect Yarnangu, humans, to family and to country— specific tracts of country and to that special place called home.
This creative PhD consists of an exegesis and film. In the documentary Mulyamaru’s Daughters, we follow the growth in cultural knowledge of Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward as she returns to her father’s country after a long, enforced absence. As Tjuparntarri learns from those older than herself she increasingly takes on a leadership role in negotiations with the State of Western Australia. Now entering older age, she shares some of the significant, often painful, events that have shaped her political struggles. She believes that her embodied Spirit Beings have enabled her to persist through adversity.
This research seeks to answer whether these publicly shared stories can give nonlocals a glimpse of what Tjukurrpa means in the lives of Yarnangu today. Can they provide a way into the difficult to understand all-pervading Indigenous desert ontology? Inter-cultural regard, acknowledgement and respect for cultural differences, is a prerequisite for non-Yarnangu working effectively and cooperatively with Yarnangu, in Yarnangu communities, on Yarnangu lands.
Details
- Title
- ‘Mulyamaru’s Daughters’ and the Minyma Pampa of Patjarr
- Authors/Creators
- Jan L Turner
- Contributors
- Kathryn Trees (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Humanities, Arts and Social SciencesGlen Stasiuk (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Media and Communication
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Identifiers
- 991005891650707891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
- Resource Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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