Wokka Taylor (c.1949-2022) was born at Kaljali waterhole in the Kulyakartu areas: flat, grass Country in the far north of the Martu homelands, close to Percival Lakes. He was the middle brother to fellow artists Muuki Taylor and Ngalangka Nola Taylor. Wokka Taylor was a highly regarded cultural leader. In his youth, Wokka’s family seasonally travelled between the Kulyakartu and Percival Lakes regions depending on the availability of water and the corresponding cycles of plant and animal life on which hunting and gathering bushtucker were reliant. They continued to live a pujiman [traditional, desert dwelling] lifestyle until they were collected from Balfour Downs Station and taken to Jigalong Mission in the 1960s. They were one of the last Martu families to leave the desert.
At Jigalong, Wokka married Kanu (Karnu) Nancy Taylor (dec.). The couple lived and worked together on several cattle stations throughout the Pilbara. Eventually they relocated with their family to Parnngurr as foundational community members during the 1980s Return to Country movement. Wokka painted his ngurra, the Country he walked as a young man; its animals, plants, waterholes and associated Jukurrpa [Dreaming] narratives.
Photograph by Tobias Titz.