Bardayal Nadjamerrek was born in the Mann River region in the stone country of western Arnhem Land. He spent most of his youth on various clan estates in the region and was taught to paint rock art by his father. When Bardayal was a young teenager he walked two hundred kilometres to Maranboy where he worked in a tin mine. This was his first contact with white people. After a while, he moved to the Katherine region where he was employed as a stockman on various properties. When the Second World War broke out, Bardayal was forcibly rounded up along with many others and moved to the Mataranka army camp where he was made to chop wood and load cargo trains. He thinks he was about sixteen at the time. He was also involved in many ceremonies by this stage. After the war, Bardayal went to Oenpelli to work as a buffalo shooter. He also cut timber and planted out market gardens. He was married by then, to Mary, and already had three children. Bardayal and Mary had another five children afterwards. Bardayal began his career as a professional artist in 1969 with the encouragement of Peter Carroll and the Church Missionary Society. In 1972 Bardayal left Oenpelli and returned to clan lands in western Arnhem Land, and in 1988 he moved to Gamarrgawan where he has lived ever since. (Source: Margie West)