Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore categories of seeing for Warlpiri people in Central Australia with particular reference to uses of karntawarra, a yellow coloured ochre used predominantly in specific ritualised contexts.

Paper long abstract:

Karntawarra, a yellow coloured ochre, is crushed and used by Warlpiri people in a number of ritualised contexts. Unlike red and white coloured ochres, karntawarra is not commonly used in other areas of Warlpiri life, perhaps as it is heavily associated with death but also as it carries some kind of special, and somewhat secretive quality. Anna Wierzbicka (2008) has passionately argued against universal concepts of colour, and has presented evidence from the Warlpiri Semantic Domain Dictionary (Laughren, Hale & Warlpiri Lexicography Group 2006) to show that instead of colour terms, Warlpiri people have four 'categories of seeing' not determined by colour. She places karntawarra into a category where rather than seeing its 'yellowness' as is assumed by an English speaker, Warlpiri people are seeing instead something which 'stands out against a background' (Wierzbicka 2008: 414). In this paper I will draw on this idea to show how karntawarra is used in a number of contexts to 'bring something into sight again which has previously been unseeable'. I will predominantly focus on ritual uses of karntawarra in ceremonies where it is most prevalent and then will extend the discussion to include uses of yellow material culture items in other areas of Warlpiri life.