Background
Dawson was born near Mount Davies in the north-west corner of South Australia, around 1935. The exact year is not known, because he was born in the bush and grew up without any contact with Western society.
Dawson was born near Mount Davies in the north-west corner of South Australia, around 1935. The exact year is not known, because he was born in the bush and grew up without any contact with Western society.
Examples of his work are held in the National Gallery of Victoria, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He and his family, who belonged to the Ngaanyatjarra nation, lived a traditional, nomadic way of life in the desert. He was taught about the country, the spiritual knowledge and law associated with it, and how to use traditional tools and methods to heal people.
In the 1950s, government patrols removed Dawson and his family from their homeland in order to escape the fallout from the nuclear tests at Maralinga.
They were settled at Warburton, to the north-west, with many other Ngaanyatjarra families. lieutenant was at Warburton that he was given the surname "Dawson".
His nomadic childhood in the desert made him an expert on how to survive in the wilderness. He was often used as a guide in prospecting expeditions.
While living at Warburton, Dawson married a woman named Alkawari.
They moved to Irrunytju, closer to Dawson"s home country, and had three children during the 1970s. Dawson married again much later, to Anmanari Brown. Dawson remained highly respected as a community elder and traditional healer until his death.
They had spent Christmas with relatives in Kalgoorlie and were returning home by a long, isolated track in the desert.
The track between Kalgoorlie and Irrunytju is over 800 km (500 mi), a journey that they had made many times before. Their car got a flat tyre some time after leaving Coonana.
They were reported missing on 8 January at Tjuntjuntjara, the next community on their route. The two men died of dehydration.
Dawson was also a diabetic, which made him much more vulnerable in the extreme heat.
His body was found on 12 January, a little over two weeks after they left Kalgoorlie. lieutenant was found close to the car, about 325 km (202 mi) east of Kalgoorlie. Woods" body was found a few kilometres further away.
Dawson was a member of the Executive Committee of Desart for several years until November 2006.