Yaritji Young | Tjala Inma - Honey Ant Story
OLSEN GALLERY
4 - 28 March 2026
My paintings are of my Country: my father’s Country, my grandmother’s Country, the tjala (honey ant) Country. Everything that my grandmother taught me, I’m teaching to my grandchildren now. They dance because I have shared what I got from my grandmother with my granddaughters, so they can know their culture. I am the Traditional Owner for Amata and the Tjala (Honey Ant) Tjukurpa. I was given the Tjala Tjukurpa by my greatgrandparents and my grandparents. My father, Mick Wikilyiri was born at Apara, a spring near Amata. This is Tjala Country.
The honey ants travelled from Papunya to Makari, through Amata and Apara. The story was passed to these people, my ancestors. My two grandfathers went from Makari to Wama Yungkuntja – the Amata Hills, to give wama (honey) from the ants to Anangu who were there. There are lots of tjala around Amata. When we look for honey ants, we look for the mulga tree. First, we find the working ants on the ground, black with yellow stripes on their back. We follow the ants to the mulga tree and look for the main ant hole, the ngana. We scrape back the sand lightly, and underneath we find the nyinantu –the holes of the small honey ant tunnels. Then we dig down, following the tunnels to find the honey ant ngura (home), and inside are the honey ants.
