Marie Mudgedell (1952–)

Marie is the oldest daughter of artist Mati (Bridget) Mudgedell(c.1935-2002). She was born at Sturt Creek Station and later moved to Ruby Plains with her family. Her mother’s country was near Yagga Yagga, Ngarti people’s country. Her father was from Sturt Creek, a place called Killi Killi. Marie left her family to attend the school at Old Balgo Mission. When she finished her schooling, she worked in the laundry of Billiluna Station where she met her husband, fellow artist Patrick (Jupiter) Smith, with whom she moved to Balgo so they could put their children through school. Marie is a highly talented linguist in both Ngardi and Kukatja languages. Marie is one of the last speakers of Ngarti, she and her husband are working on a Ngardi dictionary to ensure the language is not forgotten.