Honouring Culture, Completing Ceremony: Reflections on Mum’s (Ampirrayapimari) Pukumani
I often speak about culture, community, responsibility and empowerment—not as corporate language, but as lived values grounded in Country, family and story. Recently, our family completed one of the most significant cultural responsibilities in Tiwi tradition: our Mum’s Pukumani ceremony.
The image shared here captures a humble but powerful moment—hands in the earth, working together to prepare the ground for a tutini (Pukumani pole). It’s a simple scene on the surface, but what it represents is profound: the completion of a cultural obligation carried across generations, and the continuation of a tradition that holds the spirit, the family and the community together.
Why Pukumani Matters
For Tiwi people, Pukumani is more than a funeral ceremony. It is the final act of cultural lore, performed months after burial, that releases the spirit from the world of the living and guides it safely to the ancestral realm. Until this ceremony is complete, the journey of the spirit is unfinished, and the obligations of family remain open.
The Pukumani ceremony includes song, dance, body designs, and the erection of carved and painted tutini around the grave. Each pole stands as a tribute to the life, identity and story of the person who has passed. Each design carries meaning. Each color speaks a cultural truth.
Completing this ceremony is not optional. It is a responsibility.
A promise.
A final act of love.
A Family Responsibility, A Cultural Truth
As we gathered in late 2023 to complete Mum’s Pukumani, we were reminded that culture is not stored in documents—it is lived through action. It is held in the hands of people who show up, who do the work, who honor the teachings of those before them.
In the picture, you see people preparing the earth. But culturally, what is happening goes far deeper:
- We were fulfilling Lore, the same Lore shaped by the ancestral figure Purukuparli.
- We were guiding a spirit, ensuring Mum’s journey continued beyond this world.
- We were healing, both individually and collectively.
- We were reaffirming identity, strengthening the connection between family, Country and culture.
In a world that often moves too fast, Pukumani slows everything down. It brings us back to what matters: family, respect, responsibility, and the cultural frameworks that have supported Tiwi people for thousands of years.
Culture at the Heart of Our Work
I often talk about the importance of cultural integrity—not just in employment, but in the way we operate as businesses. Completing Mum’s Pukumani reaffirmed something we already know:
Strong culture builds strong people. Strong people build strong communities.
This ceremony is a reminder of why we do the work we do:
To create opportunity.
To build pathways.
To strengthen identity.
To ensure future generations inherit not only jobs, but pride, connection and cultural grounding.
I exists because of these values.
Ampirrap Investments exists to protect them.
Healing Through Ceremony
There is a moment during Pukumani when grief shifts. When the final pole is raised, when the songs settle, when the last steps of the dance fade, the weight of mourning begins to lift. The ceremony doesn’t remove loss—but it reshapes it. It gives grief a place. It gives the family permission to breathe again.
For us, finishing Mum’s ceremony brought a sense of peace that was long awaited. It allowed us to release what we had been holding. It allowed us to honor her properly. And it allowed her spirit to rest.
Standing in the Footsteps of Ancestors
Pukumani is not only about the past. It is about the future.
By completing this ceremony, younger generations see what responsibility looks like. They witness culture in action—not as words, but as practice. They learn that identity is something we must participate in, protect, and pass forward.
This is the same principle that guides our work across the Northern Territory and Australia:
Culture informs leadership.
Leadership shapes opportunity.
Opportunity builds stronger, safer, more empowered communities.
A Personal Moment, A Shared Message
Sharing this reflection is deeply personal, but it also speaks to a broader truth: Culture holds us up. It guides our decisions. It shapes how we care for each other.
For those of us privileged to work in spaces of Indigenous employment, community development, and workforce empowerment, this ceremony is a reminder of why our work matters.
Because behind every job placement, every partnership, every contract, and every service we deliver—there are families, stories, communities, and cultural responsibilities that must be honored.
In Closing
Completing Mum’s Pukumani was one of the most meaningful moments of our lives. It reconnected us to Lore, to legacy, and to the spirit of who we are as Tiwi people. It strengthened our commitment to leading with culture—always.
At Parluwu, this is the heart of everything we do:
Empowering humanity.
Strengthening culture.
Honouring those who walked before us.
