Margaret Katherine (d. 2018), a Jawoyn woman from the Buyhmi clan group (Duwar moiety), was born at Joe’s Garden east of Katherine in the Northern Territory. Although she lived in the Katherine region all her life, her traditional Country was the Dalakngalarr area of the Mann River. She spent her early childhood walking the Country with her mother and father, hunting, trapping and eating bush tucker and learning everything about her culture, language and traditions from her grandfather, father and mother. A senior Jawoyn Elder, she co-authored many books on Jawoyn culture, language, plants, animals and traditions.
John Gollings photographed Margaret Katherine in the Narwala Gabarnmung Rock Shelter in Arnhem Land, which was first investigated by archaeologists in 2010. A fragment of an axe found there has been dated at 35,500 years, making it the oldest artefact of its kind known in the world, and the rock art dates back at least 28,000 years. 'The most important thing about the Gabarnmung cave paintings … is not their age, not their colour or their splendour or their intricacy,' wrote one scholar in 2012. 'It's that the Jawoyn people, the descendants of the ancient civilization that created the works, are still alive.'
Gift of the artist 2017. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© John Gollings/Copyright Agency, 2024
John Gollings (1 portrait)
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