Paddy Stewart Japaljarri was from Mungapunju, just south of Yuendumu. When he was a young man he was a station worker at Mt Allen, Mt Dennison and up the top end. He worked as a chef in Papunya, hence his nickname ‘Cookie’. For a very long time he lived at Yuendumu.
Cookie worked at the Yuendumu school teaching young kids, both kardiya and yapa (non aboriginal and aboriginal). He’s taught painting, jukurrpa (dreaming), tracking (dingo, kangaroo, goanna etc.), how to make wax for the sand painting, dancing, making boomerangs and many other important culture traditions. Each day Paddy drove the school bus that collected the kids. He was also involved in the council here and in Night Patrol. Night Patrol has been absolutely invaluable as a yapa (aboriginal) policing body.
Cookie was drawing and painting for a long time, including working on the Yuendumu School Doors. He was the chairman for the Warlukurlangu Artists Committee.
In 1988 Paddy Stewart was selected by The Power Gallery, Sydney University to travel to Paris with five other Warlpiri men from Yuendumu to create a ground painting installation at the exhibition ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ at the Centre Georges Pompidou. The trip took place in May 1989 and the painting was received with world wide acclaim.
In 2000 Paddy Stewart undertook to produce 30 etchings of the original Yuendumu Doors in collaboration with Paddy Sims and under the guidance of Basil Hall, Northern Editions Printmaker (Northern Territory University). The first print of the etchings was all on one page and had its debut alongside the Yuendumu Doors while they were exhibited in Alice Springs.
