ROVER THOMAS JULAMA
Composer and artist: 1926-1998
Rover Thomas lived in a life full of transitions.
He was born near Kunawarriji (Well 33) on the
Canning Stock route in the Great Sandy Desert
of Western Australia.
As a young Kukaja-Wangkajunga child he was nurtured
in the bosom of one of Australia's harshest environments.
In the Desert he played the games with other children
that were the basis for the skills necessary for
a successful life. Learning to read the tracks
of insects and animals prepared him for his days
as a hunter, as did games of speed and accuracy
with rocks, sticks and small spears Playing 'house'
in little wind breaks and spinifex shelters was
but one way in which the socialisation process
and the complicated networks of kin ties were
established and absorbed. People, kin and non-kin,
were recognised and differentiated not only in
the corporal sense but also by their ephemeral
traces, the tracks they left in the soft sand.
Rover had been living with the family of his
mother's brother, Marrawarkanja Japaljarri. As
a young lad he was picked up at Kulayi on the
Canning Stock route by Aboriginal stockmen, his
relatives returning home from a cattle drive to
Wiluna. The stockmen took him north to Billiluna
where the Head Stockman, his uncle Sam (Jam) Lee
(Jungkura), took him under his wing. At Billiluna,
Rover learnt both the trade of stockman and the
ancient Laws of his people.
As Rover matured he continued to move ever north,
to work on Argyle, Rosewood, Lissadell, Bedford
Downs and Bow River stations. At Texas Downs he
helped drive 1500 head of cattle to Manbulloo,
then returned to Bow River station and married
his first wife, Clara. After a year spent at Mabel
Downs, Rover returned to Texas Downs for two years.
Here he married Rita, his second wife. When the
Texas camps closed down in 1972 the Thomas family
made their way to the Turkey Creek Reserve.
It was at Turkey Creek (Warmun) that Rover experienced
a series of spectral visitations that was not
only to again change the course of his life, but
also dramatically and irrevocably altered the
non-Indigenous perception of the impact of Kimberley
Indigenous art in the art history of the continent
at the cusp of the third millennium.
After the tragic death of a classificatory mother
in a motor vehicle accident in 1074, Rover experienced
a series of dreams in which the spirit of the
dead woman communicated to him the details of
an ethereal odyssey in which she had participated.
In the company of another female spirit, Rover's
'mother' had traversed much of the central and
eastern Kimberley landscape. This epic journey
included visiting many important sites, encounters
with other juari (spirits) and culminated
in the observation of the destruction of Darwin
by Cyclone Tracy. His 'mother's' spirit aided
and encouraged Rover to compose the song cycle
known as the Kurirr Kurirr, a dramatic performance
of song and dance.
Initially, Rover did not paint the dancing boards
- depicting sites and spirits referred to in the
song cycle - that were used in the original performances
of the Kurirr Kurirr. These were created by a
number of other elderly men including Paddy Jaminji,
whose work was to capture the eye of a wider audience.
The patronage of entrepreneur and dealer, Mary
Macha saw Paddy achieve success in the wider art
market, leading Rover to approach Macha and introduce
himself with the words: 'Rover Thomas - I want
to paint!'
Rover's rise to the ranks of Australia's most
important artists has been well documented. His
elevation has not only had a profound impact on
the Indigenous art of the area in both social
and economic terms but has forced non-Indigenous
Australians to re-evaluate their own perspectives
of the Australian landscape, its people and its
history. Today, in the East Kimberley, new generations
of Rover's countrymen continue to build upon the
legacy of his work and inspiration.
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