Taku Rosie Taco King

• Date of Birth: 1932
• Died: 2011
• Language: Walmajarri
• Country: Payinjarra, Great Sandy Desert
• Provenance: Mangkaja Arts, Fitzroy Crossing

I was born at a jumu (soak water) called Payinjarra in the Great Sandy Desert in January 1932.

Painting Themes:

• Jila (living waterhole), jilji (sand hills), and jumu (soakwater waterhole) in the Great Sandy Desert
• Wajampajarti jumu, Kalajita jumu, Japingka jila
• Trees, grasses, and flowers

Collections:

• National Museum of Australia
• Fitzroy Crossing High School
• Fitzroy Crossing Hospital

Exhibitions:

• 2008: Fitzroy Valley Education Centre – panels project

I walked out from the desert with my husband when I was a young girl. I left my mother and brother Kumanjayi (deceased) Pijaju behind at Japingka. My husband had two wives, my older sister and myself. They both passed away a long time ago, here in the river country at Brooking Springs Station.

When we left the desert, we walked for a long time, hunting and gathering food along the way. We caught pussycat and wirlka (sand goanna) for food but no kangaroo. I constantly worried about my mother but kept going. My husband and sister were both cheeky and would hit me for no reason. I often cried for my mother and even tried to return to her once, but they insisted I keep going.

Eventually, I came out at Old Bililluna. I was frightened by a plane landing nearby. We, the kids, walked and looked at the plane, which was a new experience for us. We didn't know any English and simply observed the kartiya (Europeans). We saw them getting water from a well, which was also new to us.

We had no shoes and wore yakapiri (bush sandals to protect our feet from the hot ground). Later, a motorcar came from Moola Bulla to Old Bililluna and took us to Moola Bulla. We were frightened of the car as it was our first time seeing one, and we didn't know anyone there. I met Manmarria Daisy Andrews and her first son at Moola Bulla.

When I first came out from the desert, I spoke only Juwaliny. Today, I speak Juwaliny, Walmajarri, Kriol, and English. I have been painting with Mangkaja Arts for a long time.