Stock and working animals, such as cattle, horses and camels, have played a critical role in the transformation of Australia’s rural and remote regions. The land and its people were forever changed by the introduction of these animals, and by the subsequent emergence of stockman ‘cowboy’ culture that has become an enduring aspect of Aboriginal identity in Central Australia.

Historically, across the country, many Aboriginal men were heavily involved in the cattle industry. Boys were frequently sent out to work as drovers and stock hands from an early age. In adulthood, their droving skills were a source of pride and identity. This unique lifestyle is illuminated in sculptural forms and colourful paintings by Irene Mbitjana Entata, a Western Aranda/Arrernte and Luritja artist from Ntaria (Hermannsburg), situated among the rolling hills of the MacDonnell Ranges, west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Populated with imagery of cows, horses and drovers, her works fondly depict a time she described as ‘Mission Days’ when her Central Desert community was run by the Lutheran mission during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

Using hot wire pyro-incision on wood, Pitjantjatjara artist Niningka Lewis’s Irititja (Early days) 2013 features figurative livestock and pack animals in this recollection of mission life at Pukatja (Ernabella), on the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory. Lewis’s parents were among the first generation of Anangu people to move to Ernabella: this work is a depiction of their journey, showing the transition from a traditional lifestyle to a colonial‑settler way of life.

Feature image: Works by Irene Mbitjana Entata installed at QAG for 'Great and Small', July 2025 / © Irene Mbitjana Entata / Photograph: C Callistemon, QAGOMA