When Gangulu artist Brandon Butler handed his artwork to Fiona Hayward, it was "a goose-bump moment" uniting two sides of history.
"Art to us is part of culture and culture, to our family, is really strong," Mr Butler said.
Ms Hayward's family members — the Campbells — have been custodians of Kilburnie Homestead in Jambin, about 115 kilometres south of Rockhampton, since 1883.
As part of celebrations to mark 140 years of settlement on the central Queensland cattle station this year, Ms Hayward commissioned Mr Butler to create an artwork.
"I felt very strongly that we needed to have something to say, 'Well, we're 140 years of European settlement, but before we were here, there were other people here'," Ms Hayward said.
"That [is] the Gangulu nation."
Jambin Country
Mr Butler is a Gooreng Gooreng, Gurang, Gunggarri, Gangulu, Iman, and South Sea Islander man. His ancestors have lived on and cared for Gungalu country for thousands of years.
"I found some sort of sense of pride to be able to help celebrate that milestone [140 years]," Mr Butler said.
"It helps me represent and be proud of being a Gangulu man.
"Whatever knowledge I can share to help my Aboriginal ancestry and culture live on, it's my proudest thing to do."
Mr Butler said the artwork, Jambin Country, combined the modern story of Kilburnie Homestead with the area's Aboriginal history.
"With the artwork, I've got the two echidnas — Jambin being echidna in Gangulu language. On the side, I've got the gathering," he said.
"Each part in the centre of the gathering is everyone's part within that community; everyone plays a part.
"To be here 140 years later, it's strong, that community is strong."
The artwork also depicts a symbol of kinship.
"That's my interpretation of Kilburnie, to connect with country, pay respect to Gangulu people, the country, and where they're situated," Mr Butler said.
140 years of Kilburnie Station
Ms Hayward is a fourth-generation Campbell on the cattle station.
"My great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Campbell, were the first settlers here at Kilburnie," she said.
When the property was first established, Ms Hayward said her great-grandparents bred draught horses and had sheep, before changing to more suitable stock.
"They introduced Hereford cattle to the area and now we run Charbray cattle on Kilburnie," she said.
The homestead holds more than "20 years of really happy memories" for Ms Hayward and her husband who raised their two sons on the property.
Her brother, Gordon, is the main operator of the station, but Ms Hayward said it would always be a special place for the family.
"It is very hard for me as a descendent of European settlers to get a grip on a history that is so long," she said.
Ms Hayward's great-grandparents are buried at Kilburnie.
"My family has bled, sweated, and cried over this land for 140 years," she said.
"I think it's a very tiny insight into how the Gangulu people must feel about this country because they have thousands of years of history here."
Truth telling
Ms Hayward said she was overwhelmed when Mr Butler handed her Jambin Country.
"There's that connection between these people that have thousands of years of love and bonding with the country and people who have only been here for 140 years, but we also love the country," she said.
Ms Hayward said marking the milestone offered her family a chance to reflect.
"For a lot of the pastoralists and the Indigenous people, it was a fairly amicable relationship and then obviously in other situations it was not amicable at all," she said.
Ms Hayward said a comment made to her while viewing an exhibition titled Kirrenderri, Heart of the Channel Country, resonated with her own thoughts.
"It's shared history and sometimes it's painful history, and in other cases it's not," she said.
"But it is something that we need to kind of process together as the people who were descendants of those ancestors that history is dealing with.
The power of art
Mr Butler's dad, Joe, said he was extremely proud the next generation was following in his footsteps.
"Artwork is just a way of life with me. It's passion," he said.
"I love coming back out on the country and seeing my children, passing on some of the culture with paintings and stories."
Jambin Country is displayed at Kilburnie in a museum alongside work from artists including Ruby Campbell and Geoffrey Bardon, who played a pivotal role in fostering the Western Desert Aboriginal art movement.
"It's actually really special to have Brandon's artwork, Ruby's artworks, and Geoffrey's artworks all in the one room," Ms Hayward said.
"It's sort of like a real coming together, a full-circle type thing."
