Galarrwuy Yunupingu (born 30 June 1948), also known as James Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Dr Yunupingu, is a leader in the

Aboriginal Australian 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 Isl ...

community, and has been involved in the fight for Indigenous land rights in Australia throughout his career. He is a Yolngu man of the Gumatj clan, from Arnhem Land in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. He was the 1978 Australian of the Year.

Early life and education

He was born at

Melville Bay Melville Bay ( kl, Qimusseriarsuaq; da, Melville Bugt), is a large bay off the coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to the north of the Upernavik Archipelago, it opens to the south-west into Baffin Bay. Its Kalaallisut name, ''Qimusseriarsu ...

, near

Yirrkala Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Its population comprises predominantly Aboriginal Australians of the ...

, on 30 June 1948, and is a member of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people. He attended the Mission School at

in his formative years, and moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

to study at the Methodist Bible College for two years, returning to Gove in 1967.

Career

Land rights

In the early 1960s, with his father, Gumatj clan leader Mungurrawuy, he entered the struggle for land rights, and helped draw up the

Yirrkala bark petitions The Yirrkala bark petitions, sent by the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, to the Australian Parliament in 1963, were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that ...

. He came to national attention in the late 1960s for his role in the landmark, but unsuccessful

Gove Land Rights Case ''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'', also known as the Gove land rights case because its subject was land known as the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, was the first litigation on native title in Australia, and the first significant lega ...

. This legal action was the first by Indigenous Australians to challenge

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

companies' rights to exploit traditional lands. He became a prominent leader and strong voice on behalf of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and Australia, gaining respect and admiration from many. In 1969 he was elected to the Yirrkala town council. In 1975 he joined the

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strugg ...

(NLC), the authority appointed under the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on tradit ...

'' to represent traditional Aboriginal landowners and Aboriginal people. He was chairman of the NLC from 1977 to 1980, an executive member until 1983 when he was re-elected as chairman. He has led a number of negotiations with mining and government bodies. As chair of the NLC, he led the

Gagudju The Gaagudju, also known as the Kakadu, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. There are four clans, being the Bunitj or Bunidj, the Djindibi, and two Mirarr clans. Three languages are spoken among the Mirarr or Mirrar cl ...

people in negotiations with mining and government bodies. Not opposed to mining in principle, Yunupingu sees it as a way for Aboriginal people to escape the

welfare trap The welfare trap (or unemployment trap or poverty trap in British English) theory asserts that taxation and welfare systems can jointly contribute to keep people on social insurance because the withdrawal of means-tested benefits that comes with ...

if it is conducted on the traditional owners' terms. These include a fair distribution of the economic benefits and respect for the land and specific sacred sites. He said: "We will continue to fight for the right to make our own decisions about our own land".

21st century

In October 2004, Yunupingu resigned from his position as chair of the NLC after 23 years in the role and around 28 as a member of the council. In June 2005 ''

The Weekend Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

'', based on information provided by his son and other relatives, reported that there was some discontent among the Yunupingu family and other community members about the distribution of mining royalties paid to the Gumatj Association. In 2007 Yunupingu spoke about the need for action in reducing Indigenous poverty. In reference to the Howard government's

Northern Territory National Emergency Response The Northern Territory National Emergency Response, also known as "The Intervention" or the Northern Territory Intervention, and sometimes the abbreviation "NTER" (for Northern Territory Emergency Response) was a package of measures enforced by ...

, known as "The Intervention, he said "The intervention was an incomplete process about which he would reserve his judgement until he knew what was working and what wasn't". In 2009 he spoke out against the inability of the government to provide adequate housing. As of early 2009, he continued to live near Yirrkala, fulfilling his role a senior

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular ...

leader and community elder. He still held numerous positions on committees and organisations where he was able to share his wide experience with other Australians and promote the aspirations of his people. In January 2010 he spent time in hospital after collapsing in a bank in Nhulunbuy. In late 2016, he had a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantati ...

. In November 2019, it was announced that Yunupingu would be one of 20 members of the Senior Advisory Group to help co-design the Indigenous voice to government set up by

Ken Wyatt Kenneth George Wyatt (born 4 August 1952) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party. He is the first Indigenous Australian el ...

, the Minister for Indigenous Australians. The Group is co-chaired by Wyatt,

Marcia Langton Marcia Lynne Langton (born 1951) is an Australian academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Regarded as one of Australia's top intellectuals, L ...

and

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma, (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner. He is the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, a post held since January 2014, after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma is th ...

Recognition

In 1978 Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year for his negotiations on the

Ranger uranium mine The Ranger Uranium Mine was a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The site is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in late 1969, and the mine commenced ...

agreement. He said the award 'would help him to shake off the image of ratbag and radical' and would give him 'greater strength as an individual and as a leader'. It was also a recognition for Aboriginal people as 'the indigenous people of this country who must share in its future'. In the

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all Order (distinction), orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarchy of Australia, Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister a ...

in 1985, James Galarrwuy Yunupingu was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

(AM) for his services to the Aboriginal community. In 1998 Yunupingu was added to the list of 100 " Australian Living National Treasures" selected by the National Trust of Australia as leaders in society "considered to have a great influence over our environment because of the standards and examples they set". In 2015, at the Garma Festival, he was honoured by the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

with an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). In a statement, Professor

Margaret Sheil Margaret Mary Sheil is an Australian academic and the Vice Chancellor and President of Queensland University of Technology. Early years Margaret Sheil was born in Goulburn, New South Wales in August 1961. As a teenager, she regularly visited ...

, Provost at the University of Melbourne, said the Honorary Doctor of Laws award to Yunupingu was to recognise and celebrate the significance of his work for Indigenous rights. She said, "The Honorary Doctor of Laws is the University's highest academic honour. ... Dr Yunupingu's relentless struggle for land rights and advocacy for the agency of his people have profoundly advanced the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout Australia. ... Dr Yunupingu has received the award of the Doctor of Laws honoris causa in recognition of the fire he has lit that will blaze ever brighter until Indigenous people secure their self-evident rights to property, their own way of life, economic independence and control over their lives and the future of their children."Garma Festival 2015: Galarrwuy Yunupingu awarded honorary doctorate by University of Melbourne

ABC News Online ABC News, or ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs. The division of ...

, 1 August 2015 In May 2017 Yunupingu was one of three

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

, along with

and

Lowitja O'Donoghue Lowitja Lois O'Donoghue Smart, (born 1932) is an Aboriginal Australian retired public administrator. In 1990-1996 she was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (dismantled in 2004). She is p ...

, honoured by Australia Post in the 2017 Legends Commemorative Stamp "Indigenous leaders" series to mark the 50th anniversary of the

1967 referendum The 1967 Australian referendum occurred on 27 May 1967 under the Holt Government. It contained three topics asked about in two questions, regarding the passage of two bills to alter the Australian Constitution. The first question (''Constitution ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yunupingu, Galarrwuy 1948 births Living people People from the Northern Territory Australian indigenous rights activists Members of the Order of Australia Australian of the Year Award winners Yolngu