Tjukangku grew up at the mission in Ernabella and at De Rose Hill, a cattle station located along the Stuart Highway. He never went to school. As a child, he was taught about working with horses and cattle at De Rose Hill. By the time he was a teenager, Tjukangku began working for the station as a jackaroo, mustering cattle. He worked as a stockman for many years, on several stations throughout central Australia. He worked for a long time on the land of the Arrernte people (in the Northern Territory), which he depicts in many of his works. When he was older, he moved back south, closer to his homeland (where he and his family were born). He settled at Indulkana, and has lived there ever since.