Dhyakiyarr vs The King

The art centre documentation for this work states;

Story of the sculptures as told by artist Wally Wilfred:
“This story is from East Arnhem Land but it is also a story from all over Australia. It is a story about two laws. One law is handed down by ancestors, it is written on the body and it stays the same. The other law is written on paper and it always changes.”

As told by Chair of Ngukurr Arts, Walter Kolbong Rogers:
“In 1933, five Japanese trepangers (fishermen) and two white trepangers were speared at Woodah Island in Blue Mud Bay. The fishermen violated territorial rights, threatened local people with guns and raped women. Constable Albert Stuart McColl arrived from Darwin to investigate the killings but he was also speared and killed. Soon after, the accused men – Dhakiyarr a respected leader and three other Balamumu men, were taken in chains through Roper Mission, where Ngukurr is today. The three men were sentenced to twenty years imprisonment but Dhakiyarr was sentenced to death. His case went before the Supreme Court and was eventually dismissed. He was supposed to receive a police escort back to his country but he disappeared and was never found again. It is believed he was murdered.”