Rosie (Tarku) Tarco King Australian, Walmajarri / Juwaliny, b. c1934

I was born at a jumu (soak water) called Payinjarra in the Great Sandy Desert. I walked out from the desert when I was young. I left my mother and brother, Peter Skipper behind at Japirnka. I left with my husband, I was a young girl. My husband had two wives, me and my older sister. These two passed away a long time ago, here in the river country at Brooking Springs Station.

When we left the desert we walked for a long time, it was a long way. We were walking and hunting. We killed pussycat and wirlka (sand goanna) but no kangaroo. We killed them to eat. I was walking, all the time worrying about my mother but I kept going. My husband and my sister were both cheeky; they hit me for no reaason. I was crying for my mother. I got away from them once, they were too cheeky to me and telling me "come on you have to go". I told them "No, I want to go back to my mother", they kept telling me "No, you have to keep going". I was frightened.

I came out at Old Bililuna. There were planes landing right there, I was frightened of that plane. From there all of us kids went walking and looking at the plane that had landed. We were looking at it. I didn't know any English; I just looked at the kartiya (Europeans). We kept coming and we saw kartiya getting water in a bucket from the well. This was new to me too; it was the first time I had seen this. We had no shoes; we were wearing yakapiri (bush used to make sandals to protect feet from hot ground). I talked only Juwaliny when I came; today I speak Juwaliny, Walmajarri, Kriol and English.

After that, a motor car came from Moola Boola to Old Bililluna and took us to Moola Boola. We came out there, frightened in the car, we hadn't seen one before. We didn't know anyone there either. I met Daisy Andrews there, she had her first son, and I met her there with her son. I didn't know her before then. They put dresses on us, we came no clothes.