After the Rescue

Art centre documentation for this work states:

“Wally Wilfred’s new sculpture After the Rescue (2020) is oriented around the story of Ayaiga, an Alawa man who courageously rescued Mounted Police Constable William Johns from drowning in the Northern Territory’s Roper River region. In 1911, during the wet season, NT police officer Constable Johns arrested Ayaiga, also known as ‘Neighbour’ and three other Aboriginal men accused of robbing a white man’s hut. Johns shackled the four prisoners, and they began the 32-kilometre journey to Roper Bar Police Station on foot, escorted by Johnson horseback. Arriving at the flooded Wilton River, the prisoners crossed the bursting waters, but when Johns followed, his horse kicked him, and he went under. Risking his own life, Ayaiga, still in shackles, dove in and pulled Johns to safety. After saving Constable Johns, Ayaiga’s charges were dropped. News of Ayaiga’s courage travelled and in February 1912, King George V awarded him the Albert Medal for Lifesaving, the British Empire’s highest award for bravery, which was presented to Ayaiga in Darwin. These events took place amidst colonial violence in the Gulf Country –massacre, dispossession and degradation –which was the reality lived by Aboriginal peoples in the region.”