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Bill Yidumduma Harney is an elder of the 
Bill Harney Biography on ridji-didjArtist's profile at Mimi ArtsBiography on Royal Institution Australia Web page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, Bill Yidumduma 1931 births Living people Australian Aboriginal artists 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian painters Indigenous Australian musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians Australian male non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Writers from the Northern Territory Artists from the Northern Territory Musicians from the Northern Territory 20th-century male artists 21st-century male artists Australian Aboriginal elders
Wardaman people
The Wardaman people are a small group of Aboriginal Australians living about South-West of Katherine, on Menngen Aboriginal Land Trust in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Language
Wardaman is a non Pama-Nyungan language. Though close to ...
, known as an artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
, storyteller, and musician. As of 2022, he lives at Menngen Station, near Katherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...
in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of Australia, which lies in the traditional lands of the Wardaman people.
Early life
Harney was born in 1931 at Brandy Bottle Creek, on Willeroo Station, NT. His biological father was the Irish-Australian writerWilliam Edward Harney
William Edward Harney (18 April 1895 – 31 December 1962), also known as Bill Harney, was an Australian writer. Most of his early life was an itinerant one of poverty and hardship, punctuated by tragedy, spent mainly in the outback. He is nota ...
, but he was brought up in a traditional Aboriginal community by his adoptive Aboriginal father, Joe Jomornji, and mother, Ludi Yibuluyma. His sister was taken as part of the Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
, but he escaped because his mother covered him in charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
to hide the whiteness of his skin.
Aboriginal teachings and awards
Harney is well known as an advocate and ambassador forAboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
, and has made several international tours promoting knowledge of Aboriginal Australians. He also appears regularly on TV, radio, and film, often speaking on the subject of Aboriginal astronomy
Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to Aboriginal Australian culture relating to astronomical subjects – such as the Sun and Moon, the stars, planets, and the Milky Way, and their motions on the sky.
Traditional Aboriginal cu ...
. In 2003 he published, with Hugh Cairns, ''Dark Sparklers'', detailing the astronomy embedded in the Wardaman culture. He has been a finalist several times in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...
. In August 2009 he featured in a two-man ''The First Astronomers'' show with astrophysicist Ray Norris at the Darwin Festival, and in November 2009 he was prominent in the ''Message Stick
A message stick is a graphic communication device traditionally used by Aboriginal Australians. The objects were carried by messengers over long distances and were used for reinforcing a verbal message. Although styles vary, they are generally ...
'' episode on Aboriginal astronomy produced by ABC TV.
In 2020, the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Small Body Nomenclature formally approved the asteroid 1979 MR2 as 7630 Yidumduma in honour of his sharing and promotion of traditional Wardaman astronomical knowledge through film, television, and books, including ''Dark Sparkers'' and ''Four Circles''.
Selected bibliography
*1999 - ''Born Under the Paperbark Tree'' (with Jan Wositzky) *2003 – ''Dark Sparklers'' (with Hugh Cairns)References
External links
Bill Harney Biography on ridji-didj
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, Bill Yidumduma 1931 births Living people Australian Aboriginal artists 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian painters Indigenous Australian musicians 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians Australian male non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Writers from the Northern Territory Artists from the Northern Territory Musicians from the Northern Territory 20th-century male artists 21st-century male artists Australian Aboriginal elders