The Australian $2 coin features an Aboriginal man named Gwoya Tjungurrayi. He was a Warlpiri and Anmatyerr man from Central Australia and is often referred to by the nickname One Pound Jimmy. His image is used as a symbolic representation of Aboriginal Australia.
Gwoya Tjungurrayi
Gwoya Tjungurrayi was born around 1895 in the Tanami Desert region of the Northern Territory, north west of Alice Springs, in the area surrounding Coniston Station. He was a Warlpiri and Anmatyerr man.
The name Gwoya is a non Indigenous rendering of the Anmatyerr word Kwatye, meaning water or rain. His skin name was Tjungurrayi, also recorded as Tjungarrayi, Jungarai, or Djungarai in different sources.
Early Life and the Coniston Massacre
As pastoralism expanded into Central Australia in the early twentieth century, competition over land, water, and food intensified, particularly during the drought of the 1920s. Gwoya Tjungurrayi survived the Coniston Massacre of 1928, a series of violent reprisals carried out against Aboriginal people in the region.
Accounts of his survival vary. Some state that he escaped after being taken prisoner, while others describe him narrowly avoiding death during the shootings. Oral histories recorded by his family describe his capture by police, restraint in chains, and eventual escape.
Work and Later Life
After the massacre, Tjungurrayi spent time in Alyawarre country near Arltunga. He worked as a miner at the Arltunga gold mine and mica mines in the eastern Harts Range. He later worked for pastoralists as a stockman and station hand at Napperby, Hamilton Downs, and Mount Wedge stations, a career that lasted around twenty years.
During the 1930s, he and his family lived near Jay Creek, where they trapped dingoes and sold the skins. He also made and sold boomerangs. In later life, he became a respected elder and lawman of his people.
Public Recognition and Use of His Image
Gwoya Tjungurrayi came to national attention after a photograph of him was taken by Roy Dunstan in 1935. The image was widely reproduced and appeared on the cover of the tourism magazine Walkabout in 1936. It was later reused in tourism campaigns and publications.
The photograph was used anonymously on Australian postage stamps in 1950, making him the first Aboriginal person and the first living Australian to appear on an Australian stamp. His name was not used to identify the image. The stamps were reissued and widely circulated for many years.
There is no historical evidence that Gwoya Tjungurrayi was informed in advance or gave consent for his image to be used on postage stamps or later Australian currency.
The public attention that followed was not always welcome. Reports suggest that people travelled to Central Australia seeking his autograph or fingerprint, and that he attempted to avoid recognition by altering his appearance.
Why Gwoya Tjungurrayi Appears on the $2 Coin
The design of the Australian $2 coin, introduced in 1988, was inspired by a drawing of Gwoya Tjungurrayi by artist Ainslie Roberts. The coin was released during Australia’s bicentenary year and was the first circulating Australian coin to feature an Aboriginal person.
The image does not commemorate a specific political office or individual achievement. It serves as a symbolic acknowledgement of Aboriginal people within Australian national identity.
Death and Legacy
Gwoya Tjungurrayi died on 28 March 1965 in the Tanami region. He was believed to be over seventy years old. His death was reported prominently in Northern Territory newspapers, an uncommon recognition for an Aboriginal person at that time.
The Northern Territory electoral division of Gwoja, created in 2019, was named in his honour.
Family
Gwoya Tjungurrayi and his wife Long Rose Nagnala had three sons. Two of his sons, Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, became notable artists. His third son, Immanuel Rutjinama Tjapaltjarri, became a Lutheran pastor.
