The legacy of the relationship between Holmes and Tjungurrayi lives on. Ever since Holmes first published Tjungurrayi’s portrait in Walkabout, official institutions have adopted it for their own instrumental and transformative purposes. For example, the Aborigines Welfare Board (NSW) used a stylised version of it on the masthead of their monthly magazine, Dawn (Fig 5.28).^[157] This was published for an Aboriginal readership as part of the Commonwealth government’s policy of Aboriginal ‘uplift’, assimilation and ‘progress’. This began the process of using Tjungurrayi’s image to encourage Aboriginal people to give up their ‘old’ ways and embrace ‘new’ ‘tasks and responsibilities’ within Anglo-Australian society. It also marked the beginning of the reception and re-appropriation of his image by Aboriginal people for new effects. For example, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies has recently digitalised and re-published Dawn in an electronic format on DVD.^[158] This reinterprets the practices of the ‘welfare’ regime as ‘patronising’, ‘paternalistic’ and ‘authoritarian’. It also seeks to provide Aboriginal people with a valuable resource to re-trace their family histories and promote pride in Aboriginal survival and identity. The progeny of Charles Holmes and Gwoja Tjungurrayi continues to shape race relations in unexpected forms.

Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.