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A long time ago, back when my family where here, my grandmother, my grandfather, all my family. There was no food here in this country. So my father went to Piltati, to the rockhole. He got sand and put it into the rockhole to clean out the water.

He put the sand in and he said "We would like to have some help to get some food, food for our children, because they're hungry and we don't have any food to eat."

The two snake men heard what they were saying. They heard the Anangu (the people) asking and in the night time when the Kanyala (like a kangaroo) came, the two Wanampi saw them and they thought: "Hey, we'll kill the Kanyala for the kuka (the meat), for the Anangu."

There must have been five Kanyala. A lot of Kuka. They hit them and killed them and put them in the water.

In the morning, they came back, my grandfather, and the family. They came back and they saw all the kuka (the meat ) and they were very happy.

They took all the food back to Nyapari and gave it to the family, to the kids, to the women, to the men - all the family. Everyone was eating the meat and everyone was happy.

Now, today, sitting over there at Piltati, are the two sons, katja kutjara, of those two snakes. They passed away a long time ago, Wanampi kutjara - those two old snakes, two brothers, old men, they passed away, but their two sons are still in the rockhole.

That's the Tjukurrpa. That's the dreaming.

The two snakes, they are very smart, and they won't give food to any other Anangu, only to family from Nyapari.

This story is from a long time ago. It is the Tjukurrpa.

Told by Keith Muntamai Stevens
Chairperson of Nyapari Community
Thursday 21st August 2003