George Musgrave

Who was George Musgrave?

Dr George Musgrave was an elder of the Kuku Thaypan clan and a famous Australian bush tracker. He was an Agu Alaya speaker.

He was born in his own country, near Lakefield National Park. As children, he and Tommy George Senior were hidden in mailbags by the station owner, Fredrick Sheppard, to avoid removal by police and welfare officers.

As a result, they were able to grow up with their own people, and learn traditional law and language, management practices of their country and how to live off the land. Recently, they were able to successfully claim continuous ownership of traditional lands, and retain custody of some land at Gno-Coom.

George's senses were so sharp he could follow a week-old trail through dense scrub at night. He could identify tracks that were up to two months old. In August 2005 he was asked to track an off duty policeman who had become lost while pig hunting. Despite being 84 years old, he found the man in less than a day.

He also worked as a community policeman and musterer.