Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/kunwok language of Western
Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit
being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the
Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have
Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to speciﬁc locations in clan
estates. These mythologies are represented in bark paintings and
sculptures of Yawkyawk beings. There are also a few examples of
rock art images of these beings. The female water spirits
Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of
mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion
of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater
streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country.
The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the
tail of a ﬁsh. This the Kuninjku people sometimes call the
ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the young woman who has a
tail like a ﬁsh’. They have long hair, which is associated with
trailing blooms of green a