History of the Sally Malay NameSally Malay was an...

History of the Sally Malay Name

Sally Malay was an Aboriginal/Afghan stockman born under a bough shed at Sally Malay bore, about 12 kilometres from the proposed mine site, on the 24 December 1924. His mother Juno was on holiday from Bedford Downs Station and she had been walking in the area of Greenvale Station, now part of Violet Valley.

Sally was named after his father Sallay Mahomet, an Afghan cameleer and hawker who travelled between Wyndham and various East Kimberley and Northern Territory stations. He traded with the Lee Tongs, an old Chinese family in Wyndham whose store still stands on the main road to the Wyndham port. Sallay used the area near Fletcher Creek as a depot when he was passing through. He was a friend of Joe Bridge’s who owned Mabel Downs Station at the time, the station on which the Sally Malay orebody is located.

Afghan cameleer and hawker Sallay Mahomet was a Pushtun speaker who arrived in the district in 1917

Sallay was a Pushtun speaker who arrived in the district in 1917. Together with his friend Andramin Khan, they had strings of up to seventy-two camels transporting goods from Wyndham to the stations and were given some land at Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory on which to run their animals. The two Afghans strictly observed Islamic traditions in matters of worship and the killing of animals for food.

In the 1940’s Sallay moved to the Northern Territory property Inverway and for a while he had a store for passing drovers, stockmen and Aborigines. He fitted out an old truck with drawers, containing items such as tea, sugar, tobacco, hats, soap, clothing, cards and knives. Sales were made in cash or dog scalps, which were worth about two pounds each. His truck was his sleeping quarters, and in there he also had a chair and a wind up gramophone and records. His two passions in life were gambling and listening to Indian music.

A stockman in the area remembered that Sallay would go out and meet passing drovers and sell them a bit of gear. Then he’d play cards with the boss drover. If Sallay lost he’d follow the mob until he’d won back his losses. Sometimes he was still with the mob when it was eighty miles or more from Inverway.

When he retired he lived in a shed at Inverway and was always in trouble for gambling. If the station owner’s wife couldn’t find her housegirls she’d discover them playing cards with Sallay. She would confiscate the deck and order him off the station. Eventually he left with his mate Andramin Khan for Alice Springs.

Sallay’s son Sally and his mother returned to Bedford Downs Station when Sally was about 12 years old

Sallay’s son Sally and his mother Juno returned to Bedford Downs Station when Sally was about 12 years old. Paddy Quilty, the owner of Bedford Downs, took responsibility for Sally and prevented him from being taken by officials to the government property Moola Bulla, which was for children of mixed descent.

On Bedford Downs Sally came in contact with Frank Bridge, the son of his father’s friend Joe, who was to be his lifelong friend. He learnt the skills of a stockman and worked with Frank running camps on Bedford Downs, then Landsdowne and Mornington. By the mid to late 1960’s, Sally was working at Tablelands and Mt House Stations. Between 1968 and 1975 he returned to Bedford Downs, his mother’s country and the place where she died.

Sally was married twice. He had a son and a daughter with his first wife Nora. She now lives in Turkey Creek. His second wife Julie died of breast cancer in 1975. They had eight daughters and two sons. A well-respected stockman, Sally moved with his family to Halls Creek in the mid 1970s and remained there until he died in 1989. He is buried in the Halls Creek cemetery.