Dreamtime story of the willy willy

This painting shows the ancestral path of miowin, a willy willy or spiralling dust storm, indicated by the red-ochre glyph unleashed on the matte, white surface of the land and rising into the sky. The storm began as a murmur, in the upper right, and kept increasing in size and velocity as it moved through Jaru country until it reached badangu ngapa (the main waterhole), shown enclosed by the spiral. Here the willy willy was consumed by Garagi, the Rainbow Serpent, who is associated with storms in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Text by Judith Ryan © National Gallery of Victoria, Australia