Maria (Polly) Cutmore, Gomeroi Elder and direct descendent of the Weraerai clan of the Gomeroi, is photographer Michael Riley's first cousin and the subject of many of Riley's works. She grew up in Moree, and Riley in Dubbo, but they were as close as siblings all their lives. Maria and her sister Toni moved to Sydney in the early 1980s, where she worked as a clerk for Aboriginal Employment. She was also a dancer with the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre in Sydney's inner-west. Cutmore later returned permanently to Moree and speaks frequently of her concerns for Country: the lack of water, the impact of mining. In particular, she lobbies for acknowledgement and meaningful recognition of the 1837–1838 massacres at Waterloo Creek.
Purchased 2013
© Michael Riley/Copyright Agency, 2021
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