Barbara Tilmouth - Family out bush hunting for honey ants

Catalogue Number: 25/187

This painting tells a story about Aboriginal families who go out into the Central Australian Bush in search of honey ants.

Honey ants live in underground nests where the ground is soft. The nests can be quite deep in the ground. The curved shapes in the painting show the women sitting on the ground with their digging sticks beside them. The ants taste like syrup or honey. Aboriginal families eat them as a special sweet treat.

Finding honey ants is a skill passed down from mothers, aunties, and grandmothers.

Women learn how to dig carefully so the nest isn’t destroyed.