Ngamaru Bidu

Ngamaru was born at Martilirri well 22 on the Canning Stock Route around 1948, the eldest of four siblings. Ngamaru’s family had met drovers on the stock route and was introduced to Western foods – but the family remained very cautious of the drovers and other non-Martu people and stayed away from them.

In 1963, when she was about 15, her family met Len Beadell, a man who worked for the Department of Defence surveying roads across the desert at Wiirnukurrujunu Creek. Ngamaru and the other children ran away from Beadell, very frightened. Beadell chased them but couldn’t find them. Eventually, the older group members were contacted by Beadell, fed Western food, and reassured that they would not be harmed. After this initial meeting', other government people travelled out to the desert to meet the group of families. The group eventually decided to go to Jigalong Mission. Ngamaru worked in Jigalong, making bread for the mission.

She later moved to Strelley Station, joining the Nomads group, where she met her husband. She subsequently moved to Warralong Station, where her husband was an important leader. Her family moved from Warralong in 1981 to Camp 61, east of Warralong and closer to the desert. Her husband was part of a group that set up a school in Camp 61, and they were important members of this Nomads outstation. Eventually, Ngamaru and her family moved to Punmu and then to Parnngurr, where she lives now.

Ngamaru is an active participant in a great deal of KJ’s work. She has done a great deal of helicopter mapping, finding numerous un-located waterholes. She is a senior Martu law woman and a strong supporter of the KJ ranger team in Parnngurr. She is also a well-established artist.

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