William Bustard Tippo Powder

The subject of this portrait, Tippo Powder, was described by the artist William Bustard as ‘an Aboriginal bush tracker’. The painting is now in the collection of Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art with the title Tippo Powder, Queensland Police tracker.

Jetimarala man Timothy ‘Tippo’ Powder (1914–72) was born at Yatton Station, Queensland and forcibly relocated to Woorabinda Mission as a child. In the 1940s his skills as a buckjumper at country shows and boxer in Rockhampton boxing stadium were celebrated, and he was known for being an excellent accordion player. He was also a successful tracker, whose expertise in solving missing person cases led to two transfers to Victoria Police in the 1930s and late 1950s. A highly developed knowledge and skill refined by Aboriginal people, the ability to track or ‘read’ the landscape led to the establishment of Victoria Police’s own corps of Queensland Aboriginal trackers in the 1880s.

Bustard’s portrait presents 29-year-old Powder at the height of his fame in the boxing ring and as a Rockhampton Police tracker.