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About Lanita

Lanita Numina is one of the middle sisters of the six well-known desert artists. She has two brothers; her father has passed on, and her mum still paints from time to time. Like her sisters, Lanita went to primary school on Stirling Station near Tennant Creek. Like her sisters and mother, she comes from a long line of desert painters of contemporary Aboriginal art and the dot-dot central desert movement.

Lanita lived with her mother and aunties on Stirling Station near Ti Tree. She started painting later than her older sisters. Lanita was taught by her older sisters and other sisters, but she was surrounded by her well-renowned painter aunties, Gloria and Kathleen Petyarre, who are well-established artists in Alice Springs.

Lanita primarily lives with her sisters in Darwin and travels home to visit her mother, Barbara Price Mtjimbana, or to bring her mother to Darwin to visit them all.

Aboriginal women's ceremonies, also known as Awelye, are sacred rituals involving body painting, singing, and dancing. Women paint their bodies with designs made from ochre, charcoal, and ash using a flat stick called a typale. The designs are related to a specific dreaming and can include symbols that indicate the time of year, the woman's social ranking, and the subject of the ceremony.

Women sing songs that tell the stories of their ancestors' journeys and pass on knowledge about desert survival, bush tucker, and medicines. They may also dance and move through the sand to create a symbolic pathway. Awelye ceremonies are performed to show respect for the country and the Dreamtime stories that belong there and demonstrate responsibility for the health and well-being of the community. 

Awelye ceremonies are a longer process that can occur over several years. Other aspects of the ceremonies include learning about ceremonial bathing and being separated from the community for extended periods..