The story of how Ivy Laidlaw and her friends survived has become a contemporary ‘tjukurpa’ — or knowledge story.

At the end of January 2013, when the temperature was soaring to 50 degrees Celsius in the shade, five artists drove into the desert to spend an afternoon digging for punu: tree roots, used for carving.

The four women in their 50s — Roma, Tjawina, Ivy and Jennifer — were travelling with Jennifer’s mother, Mrs Woods, in her early 80s.

They had a strong connection to country: they knew the rock formations and the hills. They knew where the waterholes were.

And they also knew that in January, those waterholes would be dry.

hey bundled into the car and set off, with blankets, their dogs, a few bottles of water for tea and half a loaf of bread.

Their remote community, Wingellina, is located on the border of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

They were excited to be going out bush for the day, to escape the heat and boredom of their tiny town.

Car troubles on day one

Just before they reached their destination, the car started bucking. Steam poured from the hood. They stopped the vehicle to investigate.

“It’s the battery — it’s dead,” Ivy said.

Jennifer, looking at the steam, disagreed.

“It’s the radiator, it’s boiling,” she said.

They tipped water into the radiator and jump-started the car, a few pushing from behind, forcing it down a sandy slope until they reached a flat spot on the bank of the creek.

As the shadows lengthened they left the radiator to cool, digging long tree roots out of the earth with shovels, chopping them apart with an axe, and wrenching them out of the ground.

Towards late afternoon, they loaded the roots into the back of the car and got in.

Enough for the night

Roma remembers trying to turn the key. The engine wouldn’t start. She checked the dashboard — empty — no diesel.

Source
ABC News