Trudy Inkamala Australian, b. 1940

Trudy was born at Hamilton Downs, North West of Alice Springs. Her father worked at Hamilton Downs Station in the garden growing vegetables for the youth camp. Trudy says it was a happy place to live. She remembers helping her Nanna gather the wood so they could do all the washing. She helped her Nanna cook bullock meat every day for the station. When Trudy went to school at Ntaria (Hermannsburg) she met her husband. She lived with her husband at Jay Creek; which is also her country. Her country runs from Stanley Chasm all the way to old Glen Helen Station. As a kid Trudy would go into this beautiful country with her family. They would pick bush tucker and her grandmother Laddy would teach her all the stories from that place. Trudy is an important and respected elder in her community. She is role model and spokeswoman for her people. Her mother, her two sisters and herself along with ‘some other strong people’, set up Yipirinya Schoolto celebrate and nurture the Aboriginal kids of Alice Springs. Since her husband passed away in 2014 Trudy has travelled every day on the school bus to work side by side with her sister Dulcie Sharpe at the art centre. Doing art is her new joy she says, a way forward for the kids.