Tjala (Honey Ants) (456C-22), 2022

stoneware
25.5 cm height, 12.5 cm base diameter
$1,100

Catalogue Number: 456C-22
Provenance: Ernabella Arts

Tjala or honey ants live in nests about a metre underground beneath mulga trees, and they are a highly favoured food source. The tjala tunnels that lead down to the ants’ nests are called nyinantu, and the larvae are called ipilyka-ipilyka . After the rain when the ground is soft the women go digging for tjala by looking for the drill holes under the trees. They then use shovels and crowbars to dig down following the tunnels to find the tjala inside.

Anangu suck the delicious rich honey-like liquid from the distended abdomen of the tjala . The story of the tjala is told across the Northern Territory into South Australia and is an important link between Anangu mythology and inter-dependence on the environment.