{"id":6481,"date":"2026-05-13T20:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wandjina-cloud-and-rain-beings-of-the-kimberley\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T09:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:30:47","slug":"wandjina-cloud-and-rain-beings-of-the-kimberley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/wandjina-cloud-and-rain-beings-of-the-kimberley\/","title":{"rendered":"Wandjina: Cloud and Rain Beings of the Kimberley"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"6481\" class=\"elementor elementor-6481 elementor-2645 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-hero e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-hero\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-hl e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-hl\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-htxt e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-htxt\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-h1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-h1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina, cloud figures of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal in the Kimberley region<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-lead elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-lead\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wandjina are the most important creation figures of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal Aboriginal peoples in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia. They are cloud and rain beings who both shaped the landscape and gave the present-day tribal laws.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-pillc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-pillc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-pills elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-pills\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Creators of the Aboriginal tradition.\">Creators<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/aboriginal-australia-dreamtime-tjukurpa-and-protective-objects\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Mythology of the Aboriginal tradition.\">Aboriginal<\/a><span class=\"iwg-tradition-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Cloud and rain beings.\">Cloud and rain beings<\/span><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-tocc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-tocc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-toc elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-toc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wandjina-toc\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wandjina-toc\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__iwgw-wandjina-toc\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-hr e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-hr\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-heroimg iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-heroimg\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_aboriginal_wandjina-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-6482\" alt=\"Wandjina - gods from the Aboriginal tradition, historical and illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_aboriginal_wandjina-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_aboriginal_wandjina-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_aboriginal_wandjina-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_aboriginal_wandjina.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s0h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s0h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Classification and short profile<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s0c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s0c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s0t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s0t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wandjina (also <em>Wanjina<\/em>, <em>Wondjina<\/em>) are collective creation figures of the Aboriginal religions of the Kimberley region in north-west Australia. Three language groups, the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal, share the Wandjina complex; together they hold the rock paintings preserved in the Kimberley gorges in their thousands.<\/p><p>Wandjina are cloud and rain beings who moved through the land in the mythical <em>Lalai<\/em> time (the Kimberley variant of the <em>Dreaming<\/em>) and shaped it. Unlike the <a href=\"\/en\/rainbow-serpent-serpent-creator-of-aboriginal-religion\/\">Rainbow Serpent<\/a>, which appears as a single figure, the Wandjina are a multitude of beings with individual names and tribal affiliations.<\/p><p>Within the <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/aboriginal-australia-dreamtime-tjukurpa-and-protective-objects\/\">Aboriginal tradition<\/a>, the Wandjina are particularly well known for their iconographic distinctiveness: they are depicted with large eyes, an absent mouth and a halo-like headdress, a pictorial form unique in Aboriginal art.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s1h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s1h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name and etymology<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s1c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s1c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s1t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s1t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The name <em>Wandjina<\/em> is preserved in the three Kimberley languages, with small phonetic variations. A single etymological derivation is disputed; in 1968 Ian Crawford proposed a link with a verb meaning &#8220;to appear, to show oneself,&#8221; which fits the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted divine narratives of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span> of the Wandjina as beings who materialise.<\/p><p>Other researchers (Andreas Lommel, Helmut Petri) have associated the name with the notion of &#8220;the one who watches over us.&#8221; Both etymologies are defensible in terms of language history and may have operated together historically.<\/p><p>In the earliest European sources (George Grey 1838, the first European to document Wandjina rock paintings), the name is rendered incorrectly as &#8220;Wonjina.&#8221; This spelling persisted in some Victorian texts but has since been superseded.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s2h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s2h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Description and iconography<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s2c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s2c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s2t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s2t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Wandjina <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The study of pictorial content and its meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">iconography<\/span> is one of the most distinctive in Aboriginal art.<\/p><p>Its characteristic features are: large, dark eyes without pupils; a broad nose; the absence of a mouth (explained by the idea that a Wandjina mouth would flood the world); a halo-like headdress representing rain clouds and lightning; and often an extensive painting of the body in red, yellow and white.<\/p><p>This iconography has been attested on the rock paintings of the Kimberley for at least 4,000 years; it emerged later than the older, thin figures known as &#8220;Gwion-Gwion.&#8221; In <em>The Art of the Wandjina<\/em> (Oxford 1968), Ian Crawford set out the iconographic chronology systematically.<\/p><p>In present-day Aboriginal art, Wandjina continue to be painted by the three named tribal groups in acrylic, on bark and on paper. The Mowanjum artists&#8217; association in Derby (founded 1973) is one of the most important centres of this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s3h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s3h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Mythological narratives<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s3c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s3c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s3t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s3t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important Wandjina narrative tells of a &#8220;Great Flood&#8221; (<em>Galagari<\/em>) in the <em>Lalai<\/em> time: the Wandjina came, the world was chaotic, they ordered it through their torrents, established the present-day topography and gave people the tribal laws.<\/p><p>Once their work was done, they &#8220;painted themselves onto the rocks,&#8221; that is, they transformed into the present-day rock paintings.<\/p><p>A second narrative describes a conflict between different Wandjina groups that ends with the onset of the dry season. This aetiological <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> explains the climate of the Kimberley: the rainy &#8220;Wet Season&#8221; and the dry &#8220;Dry Season&#8221; as a cosmic alternation.<\/p><p>In <em>Places that Move<\/em> (2005), Anthony Redmond presented a particularly precise <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The transmission of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">record<\/span> of several Wandjina narratives from the Ngarinyin tradition. These records are a methodological model for the collaborative ethnography of contemporary Aboriginal research.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s4h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s4h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Cult and veneration<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s4c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s4c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s4t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s4t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The central ritual practice is the annual renewal of the Wandjina rock paintings (<em>repainting<\/em>). Before the rainy season, tribal elders of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal visit the rock-painting sites and repaint the Wandjina with fresh colours.<\/p><p>This <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A regulated sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> is not merely conservation but active religious renewal; the Wandjina remain &#8220;awake&#8221; through the repainting.<\/p><p>Ritual responsibility for a particular Wandjina image is hereditary and follows complex kinship rules. Whoever bears the responsibility is also responsible for the region in which that Wandjina image lies, a direct link between ritual right and land right.<\/p><p>In the 1990s a conflict arose when the non-Indigenous artist Vesna Tenodi publicly exhibited figures resembling Wandjina; the Mowanjum artists protested and the conflict ended in the Australian courts, an instructive example of the legal dispute over Indigenous image rights.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s5 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s5h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s5h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Protective practice and the apotropaic<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s5c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s5c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s5t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s5t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Described in religious-studies terms: protective practice within the Wandjina complex aims at preserving the rock-painting sites and observing the corresponding rules of conduct. Unauthorised persons may not enter the sites, photograph them or touch them. Breaking these taboos is regarded, within the tradition, as a trigger for storms, illnesses and social conflicts.<\/p><p>A particular <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Warding off evil: of signs and objects intended to keep harmful influences away.\" tabindex=\"0\">apotropaic<\/span> practice is the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or conjuring address of a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span> of a Wandjina before the start of the rainy season: the elders visit the sites, speak with the Wandjina and &#8220;ask&#8221; them for orderly rain. This <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A fixed, recurring religious action.\" tabindex=\"0\">rite<\/span> can be described in religious-studies terms as a practice, without any promises of efficacy being made.<\/p><p>From the external ethnographic perspective, these practices are everyday-structuring rules that embody collective responsibility for Country (in the sense of Deborah Bird Rose).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s6h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s6h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Parallels in other cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s6c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s6c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s6t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s6t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Cloud and rain creation beings are widely attested from the perspective of the phenomenology of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religion<\/span>. Structurally comparable are: Tlaloc and Chac in Mesoamerica; Indra in his rain function in India; Baal in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> Syrian religion; T&#257;whirim&#257;tea in Polynesia; and several Apus with weather power in the Andes.<\/p><p>Despite these parallels, the Wandjina are unique in the history of religion through their collective multitude, their iconographic distinctiveness (mouthlessness) and their complete integration into a specific topographical practice. They are not a &#8220;rain god&#8221; but cloud beings who are land and weather at the same time.<\/p><p>From the standpoint of the phenomenology of religion, it is interesting to observe that the mouthlessness of the Wandjina follows an explicit mythological rationale: a Wandjina with a mouth would cause a torrent. Such self-referential pictorial <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The scholarly study of God and of the belief of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span> is rare in the history of religion.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s7 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s7h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s7h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Present-day reception and research<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s7c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s7c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s7t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s7t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important early works are George Grey&#8217;s travel account (1841), Andreas Lommel&#8217;s <em>Die Unambal<\/em> (1952), Helmut Petri&#8217;s <em>Sterbende Welt in Nordwest-Australien<\/em> (1954) and Ian Crawford&#8217;s <em>The Art of the Wandjina<\/em> (Oxford 1968). Anthony Redmond&#8217;s contemporary work complements this older tradition.<\/p><p>The Wandjina are internationally known today through the Mowanjum artists&#8217; association and through the annual Mowanjum Festival in Derby, which brings the three tribal groups together. In religious-studies terms this association is of interest because it combines traditional practice and modern marketing without abandoning religious substance.<\/p><p>An important contemporary line of research links the Wandjina tradition with the land-rights processes since the Mabo judgment of 1992. Here the religious significance of the Wandjina rock paintings has become a legal argumentative figure.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s8h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s8h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research debates and open questions<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s8c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s8c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s8t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s8t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Several research debates surround the Wandjina. First: what is the relationship of the Wandjina to the older Gwion-Gwion rock paintings? An older thesis (Lommel) saw in the Gwion-Gwion a predecessor tradition; more recent research (Crawford, Crocombe) is more cautious on this point.<\/p><p>Second: what relationships exist between the Wandjina and the pan-Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent tradition? Anthony Redmond proposes a partial integration; Tony Swain warns against sweeping pan-Aboriginal hypotheses.<\/p><p>Third: how is the Wandjina tradition changing through the global art market? Howard Morphy&#8217;s concept of &#8220;Becoming Art&#8221; is a central theoretical reference point here.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s9h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s9h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Repainting and religious renewal<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s9c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s9c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s9t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s9t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The repainting <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A regulated sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span> as a religious practice deserves particular attention. The ritual renewal of the rock paintings has a twofold function: physically it keeps the images visible over millennia, religiously it keeps the Wandjina &#8220;awake&#8221; and in relationship with the living community.<\/p><p>Research long understood the repainting as mere conservation; only since the 1990s, in particular through Anthony Redmond&#8217;s work, has it been recognised as an integral religious practice. This recognition has consequences for the handling of the rock paintings by Western conservators: if repainting is prevented, the Wandjina are &#8220;killed&#8221; in the traditional sense.<\/p><p>From the standpoint of the phenomenology of religion, repainting is an example of &#8220;living religious materiality&#8221;: religious objects are not merely bearers of meaning but active agents kept alive through ritual action.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s10 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s10\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s10h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s10h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina and Aboriginal land rights<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s10c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s10c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s10t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s10t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A current research perspective links the Wandjina with the Australian land-rights processes. Since the Mabo judgment of 1992 and the subsequent Native Title Act 1993, Aboriginal groups have been able to assert land claims on the basis of traditional connections. The Wandjina rock paintings have become a legal argumentative figure in this context.<\/p><p>Several Wandjina-related land-rights cases have been concluded successfully; the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal groups today hold substantial land rights in the Kimberley region. Anthony Redmond has described the religious and legal significance of these processes in several essays.<\/p><p>From the standpoint of the sociology of religion, this connection is an instructive example: religion becomes a legally effective category without giving up its religious character. This interweaving is central to contemporary Aboriginal research.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s11 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s11\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s11h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s11h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Methodological reflection and sources<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s11c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s11c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s11t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s11t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Several methodological problems arise in Wandjina research. First: the most important early sources (George Grey, Andreas Lommel) are shaped by colonial prejudices; their statements must be read critically. Ian Crawford&#8217;s <em>The Art of the Wandjina<\/em> (1968) is a methodological turning point here.<\/p><p>Second: much Wandjina knowledge is &#8220;restricted&#8221; and may not be made publicly accessible. Contemporary research practises an ethic of &#8220;informed consent&#8221;: what is published is done in consultation with the traditional owners. This practice has been standard since the 1990s.<\/p><p>Third: the Wandjina self-representation by Indigenous researchers, artists and activists is a source level of its own. Donny Woolagoodja, Mark Crocombe and other contemporary voices from the Mowanjum association complement the external academic perspective.<\/p><p>A broader religious-studies classification of the Wandjina within the framework of north-west Australian Aboriginal religion is offered by the hub <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/aboriginal-australia-dreamtime-tjukurpa-and-protective-objects\/\">Aboriginal tradition<\/a>. There you will find cross-references to closely related groups of figures: the ophidian <a href=\"\/en\/rainbow-serpent-serpent-creator-of-aboriginal-religion\/\">Rainbow Serpent<\/a>, the lightning personification <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/namarrkon-lightning-man-of-the-kunwinjku\/\">Namarrkon<\/a>, and the thin-lined shadow beings of the <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/mimi-spirits-thin-rock-spirits-of-the-arnhem-land-aboriginal-peoples\/\">Mimi spirits<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s12 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s12h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s12h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina and the Mowanjum complex<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s12c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s12c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s12t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s12t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Mowanjum artists&#8217; community in Derby, Western Australia, deserves particular attention. Mowanjum (founded 1973) is an association of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal communities. It maintains the Wandjina tradition through art, education and festival culture.<\/p><p>The annual Mowanjum Festival, held since 1997, is one of the most important Aboriginal festival-culture events in Australia. It brings the three tribal groups together in shared dances, songs and Wandjina invocations.<\/p><p>From the standpoint of the sociology of religion, Mowanjum is an instructive example of contemporary Aboriginal self-organisation. Religious tradition, economic sustainability and political representation are combined here in an integrated structure.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s13 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s13\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s13h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s13h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina and the global art market<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s13c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s13c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s13t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s13t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A research direction of its own examines the position of Wandjina art in the global art market. Since the 1980s, Wandjina-related works have been exhibited and traded internationally; some achieve high prices.<\/p><p>This commercial exploitation is ambivalent from the standpoint of the sociology of religion. On the one hand it secures the economic survival of the Aboriginal communities; on the other it transforms secret religious content into marketable objects.<\/p><p>The Mowanjum association has developed mechanisms for dealing with this tension, for example through certified &#8220;Land of the Wandjina&#8221; labels.<\/p><p>Anthony Redmond has discussed the ethical implications of this art marketing in several essays. His work is methodologically pioneering for contemporary Aboriginal art <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The discipline that studies cultures and societies comparatively.\" tabindex=\"0\">ethnology<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s14 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s14\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s14h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s14h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina rock paintings in native-title proceedings<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s14c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s14c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s14t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s14t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Since the Mabo judgment of the Australian High Court in 1992, Aboriginal groups have been able to assert land claims on the basis of traditional connections. The Wandjina rock paintings have become a legal argumentative figure in this context; they are the visual testimony of a continuous connection to the land.<\/p><p>A number of land-rights proceedings with a Wandjina connection have now been concluded successfully; extensive land rights in the Kimberley region have been granted to the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal. Anthony Redmond has described the religious and legal dimensions of these processes in detail.<\/p><p>From the standpoint of the sociology of religion, this case shows in exemplary fashion how religion can become a legally robust category without losing its religious content. For contemporary Australian legal practice this is an innovation whose implications reach far beyond the Wandjina region.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s15 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s15\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s15h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s15h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Methodological reflection and research ethics<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s15c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s15c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s15t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s15t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Contemporary Wandjina research follows a strict research ethic. Since the 1990s, the &#8220;informed consent&#8221; practice has been standard: scholarly work is agreed with the traditional owners, sensitive content is not published, and Indigenous authorship is acknowledged.<\/p><p>Anthony Redmond is particularly pioneering here in methodological terms. His work is a model for collaborative ethnography that combines scholarly standards and cultural sensitivity. Other researchers (Howard Morphy, Mark Crocombe) follow similar standards.<\/p><p>This ethic protects not only the religious substance but also the quality of the scholarly research. It avoids the distortions that were frequent in older colonial ethnography and enables a more differentiated grasp of the Wandjina tradition.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s16 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s16\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s16h elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s16h\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Wandjina repainting and conservation debates<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s16c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s16c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-s16t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-s16t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>A particular debate surrounds the repainting of the Wandjina rock paintings. Western conservators long understood the repainting of traditional images as &#8220;damage&#8221;; from the Indigenous perspective, by contrast, repainting is part of the religious practice.<\/p><p>In the 1990s this tension became visible in exemplary fashion in a dispute over the Wandjina site &#8220;Munja&#8221;: a Western restoration initiative was rejected by the traditional owners; instead they carried out a traditional repainting. This decision was later recognised as methodologically pioneering.<\/p><p>Today the conservation of the Wandjina sites follows the traditional rules. Western scholars cooperate with the traditional owners; the repainting is respected as a religious practice. This cooperation is a model for similar situations worldwide.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2a9ffe6e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp2a9ffe6e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2550abe5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp2550abe5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The rock paintings of the Kimberley and the right to repaint<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp241f3b16 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp241f3b16\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2e512e9d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp2e512e9d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Wandjina are not only figures of narrative but above all a concrete pictorial complex on the rock walls of the Kimberley region in north-west Australia.<\/p><p>The paintings typically show large faces with wide-open eyes and a nose, but without a depicted mouth, surrounded by a radiating headdress that research usually associates with clouds and lightning.<\/p><p>These images are found in rock shelters and caves in the tribal areas of the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunambal, who today sometimes group themselves as Wandjina-Wunggurr communities.<\/p><p>A <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down action regularly repeated within a community.\" tabindex=\"0\">custom<\/span> central to understanding is the ritual renewal of the paintings. Unlike European notions of an unchangeable work of art, the tradition of the Kimberley knows the repainting and refreshing of the Wandjina images as a religious duty.<\/p><p>Authorised persons who stand in the correct relationship to a particular place and its Wandjina renew the colours so that the image, and with it the effect of the Wandjina, remains alive.<\/p><p>A fading, untended image was regarded as a sign of disturbed order. The question of who may repaint is strictly regulated and bound to kinship, place attachment and the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">transmission<\/span> of knowledge.<\/p><p>It is precisely this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A handed-down action regularly repeated within a community.\" tabindex=\"0\">custom<\/span> that led to serious conflicts in the second half of the 20th century.<\/p><p>In the 1980s, rock paintings were renewed under employment programmes by persons who, in the view of the traditional owners, were not authorised to do so. The ensuing debate, which became known in Australia under the heading of Wandjina repainting, made clear that conservation, tourism and Indigenous religious practice can easily come into conflict.<\/p><p>It also showed that the images are not archaeological material that can be freely disposed of, but part of a living religious practice with clear responsibilities.<\/p><p>It follows from this, for a serious account, that the Wandjina rock paintings must not be treated as mere prehistoric art.<\/p><p>Their dating is disputed; many visible layers are young as a result of repeated renewal, without this calling into question the great age of the tradition itself. Anyone writing about the Wandjina should explicitly name the continuing right of the traditional owners to image, place and story.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-lit e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-lit\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-lith elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-lith\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Literature (selection)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-litc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-litc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-litt elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-litt\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Ian Crawford: <em>The Art of the Wandjina<\/em> (Oxford 1968)<\/li><li>Andreas Lommel: <em>Die Unambal<\/em> (1952)<\/li><li>Helmut Petri: <em>Sterbende Welt in Nordwest-Australien<\/em> (1954)<\/li><li>Tony Swain: <em>A Place for Strangers<\/em> (Cambridge 1993)<\/li><li>Anthony Redmond: <em>Places that Move<\/em> (2005)<\/li><li>Kim Akerman: <em>Aboriginal artifacts<\/em> (2015)<\/li><li>Mark Crocombe: <em>Rock Art of the Kimberley<\/em> (2017)<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgkw2-add-wandjina e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgkw2-add-wandjina\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgkw2-add-wandjina-t elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgkw2-add-wandjina-t\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Wandjina are the <em>cloud figures<\/em> of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal in the Kimberley region of Western Australia; their mouthless rock images are connected with rain, the monsoon and the renewal of the foundations of life.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-kwd e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-kwd\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-kwdc e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-kwdc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-kwdt elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-kwdt\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><em>Related key terms: Wandjina Kimberley Worora Ngarinyin Wunambal rock paintings Mowanjum.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-cc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-cc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"iwg-cc-wandjina\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccinner e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-ccinner\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-cch elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-cch\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">iWell Guard and protective traditions<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-cct elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-cct\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p>iWell Guard draws on the cultural-historical tradition of portable protective objects, in the tradition of <a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/aboriginal-australia-dreamtime-tjukurpa-and-protective-objects\/\">Aboriginal<\/a> and many other cultures worldwide. 41 layers, solid gold, platinum, silver, made in Germany. 30-day right of return.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb iwg-cc-button iwg-cc-cta-2026-05-13 elementor-widget elementor-widget-jet-button\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-ccb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"jet-button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-jet-button jet-elements\"><div class=\"jet-button__container\"><a class=\"jet-button__instance jet-button__instance--icon-left hover-effect-1\" href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/about-iwell-guard-the-protective-pendant-in-detail\/?utm_source=iwell-guard.com&amp;utm_medium=info-box&amp;utm_campaign=wesen-tradition\"><div class=\"jet-button__plane jet-button__plane-normal\"><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__plane jet-button__plane-hover\"><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__state jet-button__state-normal\"><span class=\"jet-button__label\">More about the iWell Guard<\/span><\/div><div class=\"jet-button__state jet-button__state-hover\"><span class=\"jet-button__label\">More about the iWell Guard<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><style>.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb .jet-button__instance{width:320px;height:56px;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb .jet-button__state-normal .jet-button__label{text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;color:#1a1b20;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:4px;line-height:1.714em;text-transform:uppercase;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb .jet-button__state-hover .jet-button__label{text-align:center;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;color:#FECC76;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:4px;line-height:1.714em;text-transform:uppercase;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb .jet-button__plane-normal{background-color:#FECC76;border-style:solid;border-color:#C99540;border-width:2px 2px 2px 2px;}.elementor-element.elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccb .jet-button__plane-hover{background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.55);border-style:solid;border-color:#FECC76;border-width:2px 2px 2px 2px;}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-ccd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-ccd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:13px;opacity:0.7;margin-top:14px\" data-nosnippet=\"true\">Personal experiences may vary. Not a medical device. No promise of healing.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-disc e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-disc\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-iwgw-wandjina-discw elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"iwgw-wandjina-discw\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<footer data-nosnippet=\"true\" class=\"iwg-disclaimer-block\"><p data-nosnippet=\"true\">iWell Guard is <strong>not a medical device<\/strong> and does not replace medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. The religious-studies content is cultural-historical classification, not a recommendation for spiritual practice.<\/p><\/footer>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wandjina, cloud figures of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal in the Kimberley region Wandjina are the most important creation figures of the Worora, Ngarinyin and Wunambal Aboriginal peoples in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia. They are cloud and rain beings who both shaped the landscape and gave the present-day tribal laws. CreatorsAboriginalCloud and rain [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6482,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Wandjina Kimberley Aboriginal","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Wandjina: Aboriginal Rain Beings, Myth and Sources","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Wandjina are powerful cloud and rain beings of the Kimberley Aboriginal peoples in north-west Australia. Religious-studies classification and sources.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"class_list":["post-6481","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wandjina: Aboriginal Rain Beings, Myth and Sources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wandjina are powerful cloud and rain beings of the Kimberley Aboriginal peoples in north-west Australia. 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