Maalng- Night Heron - David Bell

After the Aurukun Mission was established in 1904, many of the Wik and Kugu men, who had been forcefully relocated, were made to work in the mission sawmill. Formed was a very localised sculptural tradition, with "help' from the carpentry techniques learned at the Aurukun Mission sawmill in the early 1900s.

"This bird likes to sit quietly near the sea shore. Sometimes they are among the mangrove edge. When night comes they like to catch fish when the tide comes in."

In 1904, the Aurukun Mission was established and the Wik and Kugu men were encouraged to work in the mission sawmill where they learnt carpentry techniques and this, along with their isolation, contributed to the development of a localized sculptural tradition built from its origins in the decorated clay figures that had first been noted by anthropologists as early as 1894.