“Alyu”. That means “Hello”. My first language is Mangala and I was born in Kokanbala, or Myroodah Station.

Like most Indigenous people of my generation raised on stations (ranches), I never went to school. The manager of Kokanbala and his Missus were very hard people. Managers did not worry about education for blackfellas those days.

When I was little, my sister and me had to work around the station and help the older people with their jobs. When we were bigger, we worked in the shearing shed, picking up wool from the shearing stands and throwing it onto the classing table.

We have a big story for our history and Country. Painting is a good way for telling our story. We use the painting money to take our grandchildren on bush trips to teach them about our Country and history. That way we might get a generation of kids who will follow in our footsteps. We want them to love the Country properly and not worry about grog (alcohol).

Untitled ∙ 28 x 46 ∙ acrylic on canvas ∙ $2,100

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