Nyanjilpayi Nancy Chapman

As children, Nyanjilpayi and her sister Mulyatingki walked around the area between Punmu and Kunawarritji. Although she remembers this as a difficult time, and her family knew about the mission at Jigalong, they continued to live nomadically and independently for many years. Nyanjilpayi eventually moved to Jigalong mission and worked there for a number of years before leaving because the mission did not allow working girls to marry.

She married fellow artist Minyawe Miller and they mined for minerals with yandies (wooden dishes), worked on pastoral stations and raised their children. In 1982, they moved to Punmu to be closer to their home country.

Nyanjilpayi is a knowledgeable and prolific painter of country around Punmu and the country in the mid-sections of the Canning Stock Route, for example around Juntujuntu (Well 30). She is also part of the Punmu Women's Ranger team.  

Photograph courtesy and copyright Tobias Titz.