Lindsay Malay Australian, Gija, b. 1971
Untitled, 2023
natural ochre pigment on board
75 x 45 cm
839864
This painting represents my ancestral connections through my grandmother. I am using my creek bed as mapping and a way of telling this story. The coming into the top left...
This painting represents my ancestral connections through my grandmother. I am using my creek bed as mapping and a way of telling this story.
The coming into the top left hand represents my grandfather Sally Malay. Sally's father was an Afghan man, his mother, Juna, a Gija woman. Sally was born on Weeindoo (Green Vale station) 12kms from where the Nickel Mine is today. The 4 circles represent Warmun and 3 Pastoral Leases, Mabel Downs, Gooroomul (Violet Valley) and Gudbahilunn (old Bedford Downs station).
When Sally was 5 his mum had no choice but to leave him because he was half caste and the authorities were looking for him. Juna didn't want Sally to be taken a long way from his country and family so she put him to sleep where he would be found by the mail man on the route from Warmun to Gudbahilunn. The mail man, a white man name Crowla, picked Sally up and took him to Gudbahilunn (old Bedford Downs station) the station manager Paddy Quilty took Sally in and raised him. When Sally came of age he went looking for his mum and family. Sally found his mum and family and took them back to Gudbahilunn."
Beneath this is I have painted King Leopold represented in the brown running across the canvas, the white beneath it is Fitzrpy. This is important to mention as a reminder of the original owners of the land.
From there you can see Rocky Bar - this is Niece's fish story, her reincarnation story.
Besides it represents Bulgundi my homeland. My brother, me and four sisters achieved ownership rights to our homeland of 2000 acres after 15 years of battling. It is called Bulgundi Aboriginal Corporation and my interest in getting it back started in 1995. By 2010 we got our land back. Bulgundi is located by the river flow, there's the little Fitzroy river and the Chamberlain. The Chamberlain is on the bottom left hand corner (curved line with circle); the line at the bottom middle is the wood river that run past Marion Downs.
Around 2003 - 2005 , Marika (My partner), our children and I were living at Marion Downs and we'd often go to Yulumbu as it was the only point for getting tucker sent by air . (when Marion Downs was not functional) One wet season , the airstrip at Marion Downs was not safe for the mail service plane to land, and because of this, we had to get our supplies and food from Yulumbu. It is about 30kms from Marion Downs. Me and my son Sally, who was at the time around 8, went to go and get our food and supplies from Yulumbu on our quad bike on the other side, and I had to dog paddle across this little Fitzroy with my son on my back. Then, we walked to the homestead and the caretaker took us up to the airstrip by tractor, got our food and then took us back to the crossing. This caretaker also had a dingy boat tied to a tree, and we used it to float our food across. Then we loaded up the quad bike and headed back to Marion Downs and the kids were waiting hungrily.
Bulgundi is part of Warlawoon. My family were recognised as Traditional Owners through my ancestors; Jarnbarribyng and Myrundul. Budabuwring was my Ganggayi (grandmother's) father. Budabuwring would walk down to crocodile Warlawoon. He was a bushman living in the traditional way. Yulumbu to Bulgundi is about 21kms. Marika, I and our five children went to Bulgundi for the weekend in October around 2006. We got a couple of Kangaroos that evening and while I was gutting the kangaroos using the headlights of my car, all of the sudden the car battery went flat . We decided to walk but it was too late and already dark. So we cooked the kangaroos and camped the night. I woke my gang up at 3am, had breakfast, then headed off to Yulumbu. It took us 16 hours to walk from Bulgundi to Yulumbu, and in that month, the water was dirty, but we had no choice but to drink it. I would carry the two younger boys, one at a time every 100 metres and then sit them under a shady tree with their older siblings, until Marika caught up with baby Nicole. When we ran out of that dirty water. I would have to walk back to last water place and refill: it nearly killed me.
The white are at the bottom is my Son's story, his name is Sally Malay, named after his grandfather.
The coming into the top left hand represents my grandfather Sally Malay. Sally's father was an Afghan man, his mother, Juna, a Gija woman. Sally was born on Weeindoo (Green Vale station) 12kms from where the Nickel Mine is today. The 4 circles represent Warmun and 3 Pastoral Leases, Mabel Downs, Gooroomul (Violet Valley) and Gudbahilunn (old Bedford Downs station).
When Sally was 5 his mum had no choice but to leave him because he was half caste and the authorities were looking for him. Juna didn't want Sally to be taken a long way from his country and family so she put him to sleep where he would be found by the mail man on the route from Warmun to Gudbahilunn. The mail man, a white man name Crowla, picked Sally up and took him to Gudbahilunn (old Bedford Downs station) the station manager Paddy Quilty took Sally in and raised him. When Sally came of age he went looking for his mum and family. Sally found his mum and family and took them back to Gudbahilunn."
Beneath this is I have painted King Leopold represented in the brown running across the canvas, the white beneath it is Fitzrpy. This is important to mention as a reminder of the original owners of the land.
From there you can see Rocky Bar - this is Niece's fish story, her reincarnation story.
Besides it represents Bulgundi my homeland. My brother, me and four sisters achieved ownership rights to our homeland of 2000 acres after 15 years of battling. It is called Bulgundi Aboriginal Corporation and my interest in getting it back started in 1995. By 2010 we got our land back. Bulgundi is located by the river flow, there's the little Fitzroy river and the Chamberlain. The Chamberlain is on the bottom left hand corner (curved line with circle); the line at the bottom middle is the wood river that run past Marion Downs.
Around 2003 - 2005 , Marika (My partner), our children and I were living at Marion Downs and we'd often go to Yulumbu as it was the only point for getting tucker sent by air . (when Marion Downs was not functional) One wet season , the airstrip at Marion Downs was not safe for the mail service plane to land, and because of this, we had to get our supplies and food from Yulumbu. It is about 30kms from Marion Downs. Me and my son Sally, who was at the time around 8, went to go and get our food and supplies from Yulumbu on our quad bike on the other side, and I had to dog paddle across this little Fitzroy with my son on my back. Then, we walked to the homestead and the caretaker took us up to the airstrip by tractor, got our food and then took us back to the crossing. This caretaker also had a dingy boat tied to a tree, and we used it to float our food across. Then we loaded up the quad bike and headed back to Marion Downs and the kids were waiting hungrily.
Bulgundi is part of Warlawoon. My family were recognised as Traditional Owners through my ancestors; Jarnbarribyng and Myrundul. Budabuwring was my Ganggayi (grandmother's) father. Budabuwring would walk down to crocodile Warlawoon. He was a bushman living in the traditional way. Yulumbu to Bulgundi is about 21kms. Marika, I and our five children went to Bulgundi for the weekend in October around 2006. We got a couple of Kangaroos that evening and while I was gutting the kangaroos using the headlights of my car, all of the sudden the car battery went flat . We decided to walk but it was too late and already dark. So we cooked the kangaroos and camped the night. I woke my gang up at 3am, had breakfast, then headed off to Yulumbu. It took us 16 hours to walk from Bulgundi to Yulumbu, and in that month, the water was dirty, but we had no choice but to drink it. I would carry the two younger boys, one at a time every 100 metres and then sit them under a shady tree with their older siblings, until Marika caught up with baby Nicole. When we ran out of that dirty water. I would have to walk back to last water place and refill: it nearly killed me.
The white are at the bottom is my Son's story, his name is Sally Malay, named after his grandfather.