Basket Weaver, Ngadijina Wilma Walker is from the Kukuyalandji language group of Mossman Gorge in North Queensland. She learnt how to weave as a young child and now passes this knowledge on to the children of her local Aboriginal community. Weaver works in three main styles of basket weaving: 'Ibwey’ – a bi-cornial carrying bag made from split lawyer vine; 'Jilngan’ – a coil-bundle woven grass basket and 'Gagun’ – an open weave style basket which is traditionally made from black palm leaves gathered from the rainforests of North Queensland.
The Gagun baskets are especially significant to Walker who was placed inside one by her mother and grandmother when she was about three or four years old to hide her from the authorities who came to Mossman Gorge (Gingalma) to remove “mixed raced” children from their families. Her work was shown in 'Storyplace’ at Queensland Art Gallery in 2003 and she is in the permanent collections of Campbelltown Arts Centre and the Perc Tucker Regional Art Gallery, Townsville.
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- Writers:
- Allas, Tess
- Date written:
- 2007
- Last updated:
- 2011
