Master of the Gorge
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Original Painting Watercolour and Gouche on Fine Art Paper
By Helen Norton
70 x 100 cm
1991 Pidgeon Series (Jandamarra)
They had heard that a group of white stockmen where bringing 500 head of cattle into the heart of their tribal country on the other side of the Napier range. Pidgeon and his gang (rebels?) shot and killed two of the Europeans leading to a large manhunt which became 'The Battle of the Windjana Gorge'. These are the stories I discovered when on my first field trip to this area in 1990. I was amazed that the whole story of Pidgeon was not more widely known in the media. It is a stunning story and very few such tales of successful aboriginal 'rogues' (or heroes) are known of. Sounds like the 'main stream media' was in full flight even back then and the sanctioned stories are still suppressed. In this painting, Pidgeon's laughs are seen echoing out into the gorge.
