Marie Napurulla Laruffa

Marie Napurrulla was born in 1968 and moved to Alice Springs to search for her maternal family nine years ago.

Both Marie's grandmothers were stolen generation as was her mother. Her grandmother was taken from her great grandmother, who was a traditional bush woman, at the age of 9. Marie's mother was born in Katherine and was only 6 weeks old when she was taken from her grandmother and sent to Sydney to the Good Shepherd Convent at Ashfield where she was given an education and later trained as a nurse. She later married a non-Indigenous man and lived at Dora Creek near Lake Macquarie where Marie was born.

Marie is the oldest of three siblings and her decision to return to Alice Springs to research her family's history has been an important part of her own life's journey. Her paintings depict her grandmother's journey from her home along the Luritja road between Uluru and Kings Canyon passing through Areyonga and finally arriving in Hermannsburg (Ntaria).