Apeng (Kurrajong) Dreaming SP7986-Mary Morton Kemarre

Mary paints the story of Apeng, the desert kurrajong tree. There is an ancient Dreamtime story belonging to this tree which lies in the heart of Alyawarr land in Mary's country, Antarrengeny north east of Alice Springs. This tree produces a most important and nutritious seed called amern ngkweyang. Amern in Mary's language means food and Ngkweyang is the Apeng seed. Not a habitual practice now, Mary and her people would collect these seeds, burn them to remove small hairs, and grind them into a paste for making damper (bread).