Elder Profile - Minyawu Miller

Minyawu was born ca 1944 at Pungarnu in the north of Martu country, and grew up in the Punmu area. He is the last Warnman speaker.  As a young man, he was one of the last Martu to leave the desert.  In 1966 he was instructed by elders to travel north to see if there was anyone left in the desert. This journey took him a 1000 kms  walking from the Karlamilyi river up to Anna Plains station in the far north and back again.  Minyawu reported to his family that he found no Martu.

After concluding that the desert had essentially been cleared of Martu by 1966 and so the family decided to leave the desert.  Minyawu was married to his wife Nyanjilpayi in the desert and together they settled at Jigalong Mission. He worked in the cattle station and was an excellent horse rider and breaker, working for many years on pastoral stations.

For many years Minyawu was the senior cultural man in Punmu and a stalwart of the Punmu ranger team. He is highly skilled in all traditional practices and has a wealth of knowledge of country.