Hector Chundaloo (Tjandany)

Age : 78 years approx.  Language : Kija Sub Section : Joongoorra

Hector’s mother, Lola, gave birth to him on the grassy banks of Turkey Creek, taking time off from her work as a cleaner/housemaid at the nearby Post Office. With his father, a tracker named Police Frank, they stayed in the ration camp there for several years. Young Hector became a station hand when they moved to the adjacent Texas Downs Station, the nursery of the original members of the ’new’ Turkey Creek canvas painters. He was known as ‘cookie’, the stockcamp cook on many cattle drives out of  Texas Downs and Rosewood Stations, en-route to the facilities at Wyndham.               

His present home is not far from his birthplace, where, as a singer and clap-stick man, he is in great demand for corroborrees and various cultural gatherings. A natural story-teller, he paints his beautiful country, which abounds with local myths and legends.

As did his mentors, George Mung Mung and Paddy Jampinji, Hector still uses the traditional spinifex or gum tree glue as a binder in his ochre when available.

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