Tom 'Putuparri' Lawford's people have inhabited Western Australia's desert for over 40,000 years. They lived nomadically, sustained by sacred waterholes like Kurtal, a vital source of 'jila'

Tom 'Putuparri' Lawford's people have inhabited Western Australia's desert for over 40,000 years. They lived nomadically, sustained by sacred waterholes like Kurtal, a vital source of 'jila' (living water) and a spiritual return place.

European arrival disrupted this ancient way of life; cattle fouled waterholes, forcing Aboriginal people off their land. Many worked on cattle stations, but equal pay laws in the late 1960s led to their displacement into towns like Fitzroy Crossing.

Putuparri grew up in Fitzroy Crossing within an activist family. At ten, he joined the Noonkanbah Station picket line, fighting oil drilling on sacred land.