Nancy Chapman (Nyanjilpayi) Australian, Manyjilyjarra, b. 1941

“When I was little, I used to stand up all the time, looking for the old people to come back bringing food. The old people gave me that name, Nyanjilpayi [‘standing up’].”-Nyanjilpayi (Ngarnjapayi) Nancy Chapman "When I was born my spirit appeared at Jarntinti. That's my Country, Jarntinti. I know all aboutit, about that water over there, about my home, our grandparent's Country. We travelled allaround as pujiman, camping and then setting off again by foot. We didn't gettired. We just kept on going. Sometimes it would rain, so we would build a shelter, just like a tent. Inside we would light a fire. Our pujiman lifestyle wasvery healthy and we didn't get sick very often. Even when it was cold we continued to walk around in good health. I'm working on my painting of those waterholes, I was drinking from them long ago as apujiman. My family's water, my grandmother's, my grandfathers and my ancestors. I was taught from them. Our knowledge is ancient and has been passed on by our grandparents. Young people need to keep looking after it."-Nyanjilpayi Nancy Chapman as translated by Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa Nyanjilpayi is a Manyjilyjarrawoman, born in the 1940s at Jarntinti, a large claypan at the southern end of Nyayartakujarra (Lake Dora) and within the Karlamilyi (Rudall River) region. Sheis the sister of fellow senior Martumili Artists Mulyatingki Marney, Mayiwalku Chapman andMarjorie Yates (dec.). As children, Nyanjilpayi and her family walked around the Punmu,Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route Well 33) and Karlamilyi regions. A severe and prolongeddrought extended through many years during this formative period in her life, and Nyanjilpayi remembers this as a difficult time. Although her family knew about the mission at Jigalong, where a supply of rationed food and water was assured, they chose to continue to live nomadically and independently for many years.