Bugai Whyoulter

Bugai Whyoulter is a Kartujarra woman and a senior custodian of the lands surrounding Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route, Well 33) in remote Western Australia. Born in the 1940s at Pukayiyirna, she travelled northward with her parents toward Kunawarritji. In 1963 Bugai’s family encountered surveyor Len Beadell, who was grading roads for the Woomera Missile Testing Range. From the flour he provided, Bugai taught her relatives how to cook a simple damper (flat bread), a skill acquired from drovers she encountered on the Canning Stock Route. Shortly afterward Bugai, her husband, and her extended family moved to Jigalong Mission. There, they were reunited with many relatives that had already escaped the desert due to a prolonged and severe drought. They were some of the last Martu to leave the desert. Today Bugai is considered one of most established Martumili Artists, and is known as a master of colour, gesture and subtlety. 

Source: Martumili Artists and Paul Johnsdtone Gallery, 2023