Mulyatingki Marney

Mulyatingki was born around 1941 at Nyinyiri. Her mother was Warnman and her father was Manyjilyjarra. Their country is around Punmu, Kunawarritji and Karlamilyi River. Her father passed away at Karlamilyi.

Mulyatingki and her sisters Nyanjilpayi (Nancy Chapman) and May Chapman lived between Punmu and Kunawarritji and later travelled south into Karlamilyi (Rudall River). She was travelling around Karlamilyi with her sisters when they first saw whitefellas. They saw a plane flying overhead and were scared and hid under the spinifex. The whitefellas were riding horses with Martu people who were already living at Jigalong mission. For a time, men from Mulyatingki's family would do seasonal work at the stations around Jigalong but they always went back to see their families.

In 1966, Mulyatingki's family decided to walk to Balfour Downs because there was no one left in the desert. The Balfour Downs station manager contacted Jigalong mission and the mission staff that Mulyatingki had met previously came to pick them up. At the mission, Mulyatingki was given the whitefella name "Jeannie". Mulyatingki lived for many years at Jigalong mission and then took her 3 children to live at Punmu, close to her family and country. She has lived at Punmu since 1982 with her children and grandchildren. Mulyatingki is also part of the Punmu Women's Ranger team. 

Photograph courtesy and copyright Tobias Titz.