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Catalogue Number: 25/181
This painting shows Aboriginal families out hunting for bush tucker after a big rain. They are searching for yellow, orange, and black honey ants that live underground. These ants are very sweet, and finding them in the bush is a special treat. They also search for bush tomato’s which grow wild across the central desert. When the fruit turns yellow, it is ready to eat. Sometimes the fruit dries on the plant and turns brown in the sun, and this dried fruit is still good to eat.
The curved shapes in the artwork represent the women sitting on the ground. Beside them are their digging sticks and a coolamon, which was traditionally used in the old days for gathering food.
Knowledge about bush foods is passed down from mothers, aunties, and grandmothers to daughters and nieces. Aboriginal women learn where the plants grow, the right time to harvest them, and how to gather food in a respectful and careful way.