Hedley Karyuka

My name is Hedley Karyuka and I was born in Cairns on January 25th, 1966.

I am a Kugu man and speak Kugu, Thaayorre and Wik Mungkan. I remember going walk about in my father’s Kendall River Country. My family and I lived at his outstation in the bush until I was 12 years old. That is when my father died and I buried him there.

My mother, sister, two uncles and big aunty left his country and walked to Pormpuraaw. It took about a week. Sometimes the rivers were to muddy and we had to go up river to find a good place to cross. Sometimes we had to wait for low tides to cross the rivers. When I came to Pormpuraaw it did not have a large population and not many buildings. I stayed and my mother walked back to Aurukun.

I went to mission school for the first time and learned to read and write. The teachers all knew language, and teachers aides were there to help translate.

My first job was working at the croc farm at age 18. We would hunt wild pigs and bullocks and bring them back to the farm butcher. The meat would then be fed to the crocs.

My second job was working at “Bars Yard River Out- Station”. My work was to muster cattle, build fences and anything else that needed to be done. I used to travel back and forth between Aurukun and Pormpuraaw all the time, especially for important cultural reasons like a funerals or house openings. I had many different jobs in both communities. I worked in both stores stocking shelves.

I went back to Aurukun in the early 1990s and worked at the art centre there until 2004. The art centre was becoming famous for carvings and our work was exhibited in Melbourne and Brisbane. I was one of the first artists to carve dogs and Law poles.

I later returned to Pormpuraaw and have worked at the Pormpuraaw Art Centre ever since. I used to do a lot of carving but these days I prefer to focus on printmaking, particularly etchings because I love to draw. My work celebrates our totems and culture. I enjoy teaching my nephews and other young people how to print. We have a great printing workshop and it is my favorite place to be.