Mungurrawuy Yunupingu (abt. 1905 - 1979)

Born about 1905 in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Died 1979 at about age 74 in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

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Biography

Mungurrawuy Yunupingu of the Gumatj Clan, Yirritja Moiety was born about 1905^[1]. He was of the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. They were the traditional owners of the Gove Peninsula.

It seems he had 12 wives, one of whom was Makurrngu of the Galpu Clan.

In the article (see Rothwell, Nicholas, 2013) about Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu-2, it is stated that Tom was "one of more than 50 children born to Mungurrawuy Yunupingu, the most dominating leader of the Yolngu clans of northeast Arnhem Land". Only those children who became artistic seem to get a mention and there seems to be very little publicly available biographical information on the father mother of those children. Certainly, more than 3 of the females are referred to as sisters of Tom's older brother Galarrwuy. Their father was in his own right an outstanding and prolific bark painter and sculpture artist (carving figures)^[2]. This reference has his birth date as 'around 1907' but without any source. It also shows images of some of his paintings and sculptures.

Mungurrawuy is described as being an Aboriginal of the Yirrkala Mission in the Select Committee Report on Grievances of Yirrkala Aborigines Arnhem Land Reserve of 1963.

As a Gumatj Clan leader, Mungurrawuy fought and lost the battle to stop a bauxite mine operating on his land. His son Galarrwuy Yunupingu was his father's interpreter throughout the historic Gove land rights case in 1971^[3].

The Nabalco Corporation had secured a twelve-year bauxite mining lease from the Federal Government. However, on 15 March 1963 the Government sold part of the Arnhem Land reserve to the bauxite mining company without consulting with the Yolngu people, who petitioned the Australian House of Representatives in August 1963 with a bark petition^[4]. Galarrwuy helped his father Mugurrawuy draft the Yirrkala bark petitions.

The Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd case led to the establishment of the Woodward Royal Commission and the eventual recognition of Aboriginal Land rights in the Northern Territory.

In 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam-8 drew up the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, which was later passed (in a slightly diluted form) by the conservative Fraser-1802 Government on 9 December 1976 (see ref.4).

In 1978, the Yirrkala people received title to their land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. However, the mining leases to which they had objected, were specifically excluded from the provisions of this Act^[5].

Mungurrawu Yunupingu died in 1979 (see ref.3).

Sources

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180705181954/http://www.nma.gov.au:80/exhibitions/old_masters/artists/mugurrawuy_yunupingu
2. ↑ https://www.aboriginal-bark-paintings.com/munggurrawuy-yunupingu/
3. ↑ https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A107487
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milirrpum_v_Nabalco_Pty_Ltd
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200318155017/https://indigenousrights.net.au/land_rights/yirrkala,_1963-71/a_legal_challenge

• The National Museum of Australia: Old Masters: Australia's Great Bark Artists.
• Rothwell, Nicholas, 2013, "Singer, dancer and teacher: the voice of Yothu Yindi, Yunupingu, reshaped our nation", The Australian of 4 June, 2013.