Vigna lanceolata
Encyclopedia
Vigna lanceolata, known as the pencil yam, is an Australia
n native plant. Its name in the Arrernte language of Central Australia
is Merne arlatyeye.
Pencil yam is an important bush tucker
food for Aborigines, and there are many Dreaming
rituals around it. It is still commonly eaten in the desert today. It is a slender twining plant with yellow pea flowers throughout the year.
Aboriginal people from the desert dig them up in creekbeds. They look for the white roots, then cook them in the hot earth beside the fire until they are just firm.
Esteemed artist Emily Kngwarreye
had an individual Dreaming around the pencil yam. This meant she had been given stories about the origins of the pencil yam, and was entitled to tell these stories and paint the yam.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n native plant. Its name in the Arrernte language of Central Australia
Central Australia
Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...
is Merne arlatyeye.
Pencil yam is an important bush tucker
Bushfood
Bushfood traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, but it is a reference to any native fauna/flora that is used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes regardless of which continent or culture it originates...
food for Aborigines, and there are many Dreaming
Dreaming (spirituality)
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....
rituals around it. It is still commonly eaten in the desert today. It is a slender twining plant with yellow pea flowers throughout the year.
Aboriginal people from the desert dig them up in creekbeds. They look for the white roots, then cook them in the hot earth beside the fire until they are just firm.
Esteemed artist Emily Kngwarreye
Emily Kngwarreye
Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Australian Aboriginal artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory. She is one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.-Life:Born in 1910, Kngwarreye did not take up painting seriously until...
had an individual Dreaming around the pencil yam. This meant she had been given stories about the origins of the pencil yam, and was entitled to tell these stories and paint the yam.
External links
- Vigna lanceolata (Alice Springs town council)