Thelma Judson

Thelma Judson is a Manyjilyjarra woman born around 1951 in Murlu waterhole, in the northern area of Martu country, in the Percival Lakes area. This area has many salt lakes and springs. Thelma lived with her family and other close relatives in this lake area travelling the whole length of the lake string from the Canning Stock Route in the east to the edge of the lakes in the west. In 1963 the older men from the family group left the lake area looking for other Martu and left the women and children with a couple of old men for protection. These old men died, leaving the women and children alone. The group had had no men in their company for about nine months. In 1964 a whitefella patrol working for the Department of Defence travelled into Thelma’s country to clear people from an impact area where the Blue Streak rocket, to be launched from Maralinga, was to scheduled to land. Thelma, who was about 12, and the rest of the group spotted the patrol and ran away very frightened, not having met non-Martu people before. The patrol pursued the group. Eventually, the group was contacted and elected to go to Jigalong Mission. This story has been recorded in the book Cleared Out and the film Contact.

Thelma went to school in the mission, and then she went to work on various stations. She married her husband and went to live at Strelley station in the 1970s. She then moved back to the desert, first to Punmu and then to Parnngurr, where the family were deeply involved in setting up the community. Thelma has four children.

Thelma is a very senior woman and is a very strong member of the KJ women’s ranger team in Parnngurr. She is an expert on bush tucker and bush animals and has deep cultural knowledge. Thelma is a wonderful leader of return-to-country trips, giving cultural information at each waterhole and telling stories about family connections and the history of the country. She is an established artist.

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