Annette Buckskin with her brother and artist Barry Buckskin, and sister Glennis Warrior who was the inspiration behind the traditional aboriginal artwork. PHOTO: Liam Phillips
WHEN Kapunda Golf Club’s Glennis Warrior took home the club’s C-grade championship, her brother, Barry Buckskin, decided to create and donate a traditional Papunya Tula style painting depicting the golf club and the community that surrounds it.
The Kapunda Golf Club is fairly unique as it is one of the only courses in South Australia, and potentially the country, that has an aboriginal man – Eugene Warrior – in the role of club captain.
Mr Buckskin said he was initially a bit nervous about displaying his artwork so openly, but is proud to have his work appreciated.
“When Glennis won, my sister (Annette Buckskin) and I came out to let her know we were proud and to support her, but when we got home we thought ‘we’ve got to do something for it’,” he said.
“So we thought about it for a night and a day, and then we came up with the idea for an aboriginal painting that Eugene and the club could keep so people could recognise her accomplishments in the future.
“I’m usually pretty negative about my work so I was nervous about how it would be received and what people would think, but now I feel great that the painting is hanging up where everyone can see it.”
Glennis’ sister Annette said it’s meaningful to her to be able to create something tangible that shows her appreciation of a person and their accomplishments.
“It’s a great honour to recognise somebody in that way, especially in a community like this where people have a lot of respect for her,” she said.
“The middle section of the painting is the actual golf club itself, and the artwork around the outside represents the people playing golf from all different cultures and footprints – it tells a story.”
Glennis, who took the Warrior name when she married Eugene, said it is a unique privilege to be able to see family appreciation in such a real way.
“It’s really an honour to have family do that for you, because these days families are not all connected as well, and as strongly as we are,” she said.
“We became members at Kapunda because we had friends here, and I think within 18 months a couple of the guys came to me to ask if I would present Eugene with the idea of being club captain, so this club has made us feel welcome from the start and it feels good to be able to leave our mark on it.
“Who knows – it might even be a catalyst for some other clubs to say ‘can you do one for us?’”
