Mary Gibson

Mary was born circa 1950 bush way at a site called Kuluwarri, deep in the western desert. As a child and teenager she lived at Kurlkurta, east of Kuluwarri, north west of Tjukurla, with her large family – her father, four mothers, three brothers and five sisters. She says there was always so much to hunt and eat. Too much Tjala (honey ants), Tinka (goanna), Kampurampa (bush berries), Kipara (bush turkey), Nyaiia (wild cat), Mangarta (quandong) and Wangurnu (grain for bread). Mary is still a fierce hunter and is always the first out of the car on any bush trip to collect bush foods or dig a tinka out of its burrow. 

When she was in her late teenage years, her family walked to Papunya where they had heard many people had moved. They left two brothers behind at Kulkurta. At Papunya, Mary met and was married to her first husband Mr Gibson. They had one daughter, Roma, and two sons, Bob and Roger in Papunya. With three children under 10, they decided to move back to Kulkurta. 

Mary talks of many years travelling throughout the western desert region, including regular trips to Tjarlirli Rockhole years before Tjukurla community was established nearby. She speaks of travelling to Kayilli (Patjarra) and then onto Port Headland for a holiday, where her husband sadly passed away.