Ngamaru Bidu

born about 1950
Martilirri Manyjilyjarra language group 
Parnngurr community 
Martumili Artists 

Ngamaru grew up following waterholes and sources of bush tucker across the Great Sandy Desert. She recalls first seeing white people who were surveying prior to missile testing. 

Ngamaru and her family ran away, but were tracked by government officials who caught up with them at Yulpu and took them to Jigalong mission. After meeting her husband, she moved between Warralong and Punmu communities. She now lives and paints in Parnngurr.

Photo: Christiane Keller, National Museum of Australia

Yikartu Bumba

born 1940s, Lalyipuka 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Punmu community 
Martumili Artists 

A painter and basket maker, Yikartu grew up walking across Juwaliny country. One day, her family met a missionary and two Martu men from La Grange mission at Bidyadanga, who later returned to bring the family back to the mission, where Yikartu was reunited with other close family members. 

She often paints her husband’s country, close to Wirnpa, but also paints her mother’s, father’s and all her grandparents’ country, which is in the north of the Great Sandy Desert.

Photo: Tim Acker, Canning Stock Route project

May Wokka Chapman

born about 1940, 
Nuru Manyjilyjarra language group 
Punmu community 
Martumili Artists 

May Wokka grew up in the Great Sandy Desert around Punmu, Kunawarritji and Karlamilyi River. She lived with her family in the desert until 1966, when they walked into Balfour Downs station. May Wokka lived at Jigalong mission for many years, but now lives at Warralong with her daughter. 

May Wokka and her sisters, Nancy Nyanjilpayi Chapman and Mulyatingki Marney, are senior custodians for the Minyipuru songlines at Pangkal and Kunawarritji.

Photo: Martumili Artists

Nancy Nyanjilpayi Chapman

born about 1942, 
Jantinti Manyjilyjarra language group 
Punmu community 
Martumili Artists 

Nancy grew up living pujiman (traditional desert life) around Kunawarritji and Punmu. She and her family were among the last to leave the desert when they willingly walked into Balfour Downs station in 1966. 

She moved to Punmu community in 1982 to live closer to her country. Nancy and her sisters are senior custodians and prolific painters of the Minyipuru Jukurrpa in the Pangkal area.

Photo: Tim Acker, Canning Stock Route project

Kumpaya Girgirba

born about 1933, Kunawarritji 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Parnngurr community 
Martumili Artists 

Kumpaya lived in the desert with her children before they were spotted from an aircraft surveying the region prior to missile testing in the late 1950s. The family eventually decided to leave the desert and join relatives at Jigalong mission. 

Kumpaya gained painting and basket-weaving skills in Balgo, Fitzroy Crossing and Patjarr, and is credited with passing these skills on to Martu people. She is a respected law woman and cultural leader, and the senior custodian for the Minyipuru songline. Close

Photo: Tim Acker, Canning Stock Route project

Thelma Judson 

born about 1956, Percival Lakes region 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Parnngurr community, Port Hedland 
Martumili Artists 

Thelma grew up around Yimiri and Kurturarra, where she and her siblings stayed close to water while their parents went out hunting. The family moved to Jigalong mission in 1964, after contact with a native welfare patrol officer who had pursued the group for weeks. 

The story is detailed in the 2005 book Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert. She lives in Port Hedland with her husband, Yanjimi Peter Rowlands, who speaks for the Minyipuru songline at Kalypa.

Photo: Martumili Artists

Mulyatingki Marney 

born about 1941, Nyinyiri 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Punmu community 
Martumili Artists 

Mulyatingki grew up in the Great Sandy Desert around Punmu and Kunawarritji. In 1966, Mulyatingki and her family walked into Balfour Downs station and moved to Jigalong mission. In 1982 she settled in the newly established Punmu community, where she continues to reside, along with her sister Nancy Nyanjilpayi Chapman. 

Mulyatingki is a senior custodian for Minyipuru Jukurrpa in Pangkal and Pangkapini, places on the Canning Stock Route.

Photo: Rebecca Dagnall, National Museum of Australia

Yuwali Janice Nixon 

born about 1947, Martilirri 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Parnngurr community 
Martumili Artists 

Born at Yulpu soak, Yuwali had her first contact with Europeans in 1964 when her family group — all women and children — met government officials clearing Martu people from a region surveyed for missile testing. 

The weeks-long pursuit of her family by a native welfare patrol officer is recorded in the book Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert and a documentary titled Contact. Yuwali was one of the cofounders of the Punmu community in 1982.

Photo: Tim Acker, Canning Stock Route project

Reena Rogers 

born about 1940, near Taarl 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Punmu community 
Martumili Artists 

Reena inherited rights to the Minyipuru songline through her father’s country in the Kunawarritji area. She had a close relationship with her older sisters Mantararr Rosie Williams and Muni Rita Simpson, both senior women and well-known artists. 

All the sisters moved back to their homelands in 1982 when they set up camp in Punmu. Reena lives in Punmu with her daughter and three grandsons.

Photo: Martumili Artists

Kanu Nancy Taylor 

born about 1940, Karlamilyi River 
Warnman, Manyjilyjarra language groups 
Parnngurr, Karlamilyi and Punmu communities 
Martumili Artists 

As a young woman, Kanu has travelled extensively on foot across country to places such as Kurrka, Nullagine, Wirtilwirtil (near Woody Woody gold mine) and Oolkabar River. Kanu paints her country around Karlamilyi, including Japarli, Yaralalyu, Jinturinypalangu and Jutupa. 

She is a prolific painter and basket weaver, as well as a member of the Parnngurr women’s ranger team. Kanu now lives in Parnngurr with her second husband, Wokka Taylor, whose grandchildren include filmmaker Curtis Taylor.

Photo: Rebecca Dagnall, National Museum of Australia

Ngalangka Nola Taylor 

born about 1951, Wirrinyalkujarra 
Manyjilyjarra language group 
Parnngurr community 
Martumili Artists 

Nola grew up in the Great Sandy Desert around Wirnpa and Kirriwirri. After her father died, the family walked into Balfour Downs station in 1965 and then on to Jigalong mission. Nola moved to Parnngurr community as part of the homeland movement in the 1980s. 

Her husband Nyarri Morgan features in Lynette Wallworth’s virtual reality film Collisions. Nola has provided essential translation skills during community consultation for this exhibition and book.

Photo: Rebecca Dagnall, National Museum of Australia