Majarrdi Jukurrpa (Ceremonial Dancing Skirt Dreaming), acrylic on canvas, 91cm x 76 cm, painted 2008
by Kelly Napanagka Michaels

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Majarrdi Jukurrpa (Ceremonial Dancing Skirt Dreaming) tells the story of an important element in much of Warlpiri ceremonial activity. "Majarrdi" is a hair-string belt or skirt that "karnta" (women) wear for ceremonial dances called Yawulyu. Hair is rolled into a string using a rubbing technique on the thigh and spun onto a stick spindle, then made into a belt or skirt. In the time of the Jukurrpa ancestral hero women of the Napangardi and Napanangka kinship subsections were living at Mina-Mina, far to the west of Yuendumu. The women travelled over their country performing ceremonies and dances wearing their "majarrdi" (ceremonial dancing skirts). This Dreaming belongs to Napangardi/Napanangka women and to Japangardi/Japanangka men.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. In paintings of this Dreaming, "W" shapes are often used to represent the dancing skirts while "U" shapes are representing the women while they are performing their ceremonies.