Mandawuy Yunupingu

Yunupingu as Yothu Yindi performed during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney

Mandawuy (Djarrtjuntjun) Yunupingu , formerly Gudjuk and Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu , (born September 17, 1956 near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula , Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory , Australia ; † June 2, 2013 ibid.) Was an Aboriginal of the Yolngu (whose First name Mandawuy in the tradition of Yolngu is no longer mentioned after his death).

He was a teacher, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. In addition, he was the first Arnhem Land Aboriginal to receive an academic title. He was also the first indigenous school principal in Australia. Since 1986 he was the band leader of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi and was voted Australian of the year 1992 in January 1993 . In 1998 the Queensland University of Technology awarded him the title of Doctor hc

Surname

After his death, the family announced that his name would no longer be mentioned, instead Mr Yunupingu , Dr Yunupingu , Mr M. Yunupingu or also lead singer of the Yothu Yindi band and Australian of the Year 1992 . The family thus followed the sepulchral culture tradition of the Yolngu.

The name Gudjuk from his early years was later changed to Mandawuy. The Yolngu change the name when a clan member with the same name dies.

His first name Mandawuy means made of clay . Djarrtuntjun is the name given to the roots of the myrtle heather trees, which continue to burn and give off heat even after the bushfire has died down. Yunupingu is the name for a solid rock that moved from a drinking water area to a salt water area, where it stands deep in the earth. Gudjuk is a fire kite.

family

His father Munggurrawuy Yunupingu was an artist and elder of the Gumatj. His father is known in Australia for actively fighting against the construction of the Gove bauxite mine . This mine was built without any consultation with traditional landowners on the Gove Peninsula . The petition, on the other hand, was submitted bilingual by the Yolgnu in the Australian Parliament on a tree bark, the so-called Yirrkala Bark Petition .

His mother Makurrng was a member of the Galpu clan . His eldest sister Gulumbu Yunupingu was an artist and healer and the artists Nyapanyapa and Barrupu are two other sisters. His eldest brother is Galarrwuy Yunupingu , a senior elder, musician and activist of the land rights movement of the indigenous people of Australia, who was voted Australian of the year in 1978. His nephew Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu became known worldwide as a musician.

Yunupingu lived with his family with five daughters and his wife Gatjilayngu Maymuru (Yalmay) of the Rirritjingu clan .

Early life

Little is known of his childhood and youth. According to him, Yunupingu was born on a grassy hill in a king's eucalyptus forest, near a river at Yirrkala. His father sent him to the Yirrkala Methodist Mission , which ran a Sunday school in Yirrkala. There he was taught Christian. He announced in an interview that he particularly liked the biblical story of David and Goliath.

Politician

Yunupingu worked for the reconciliation of Aborigines and white Australians. For this he was voted Australian of the year 1992. In the reason for the award of the award, his appearance in New York with the song Treaty in the United Nations International Year of the World's Indigenous People was particularly recognized.

In 1990 he founded the Yothu Yindi Foundation as a band leader , which pursues the goal of preserving, promoting and promoting the culture and interests of the Yolngu Aboriginal tribe and making them known worldwide. An essential part of the Foundation's work is the Garma Culture Festival , which has been taking place at Nhulunbuy in August of each year since 1999 and is organized by the Foundation .

Professional career

Teacher

Yunupingu published in the 1980s essays in which he developed an independent school model for Aborigineskinder that as Both Ways ( both ways ) is known. In these writings, he tried to reconcile the traditions and cultural life of the Aborigines with Western teaching methods. He developed a special curriculum as well as a corresponding teacher training.

In 1988 he was the first Arnhem Land Aboriginal man to graduate from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. In 1989 he was hired as assistant principal at Yirrkala Community School and in 1990 he was appointed principal. At the end of 1991 he resigned from this post. In 1998, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Queensland University of Technology for his educational achievements .

Musician

Around 1985 Yunupingu formed a band of Yolngu Aboriginal people. In 1986 this opened up to white Australians; took them on as members and the band Youthu Yindi was formed.

In the beginning, the band only appeared in the times when Yunupingu did not have any lectures at the university. It wasn't until 1988 that the band went on tours with him through Australia and North America. The band's first album Homeland Movement also features a song Djapana (Sunset Dreamtime ), which Yunupingu wrote.

The song Treaty , which was released in June 1991, received national and international recognition . In it, the Aboriginal rock band reminded the Australian government of a promise for a deal between Aboriginal and white Australians. The song reached 11th place in the ARIA Singles Charts and was in the top 50 for 20 weeks. The song, which also contains parts of the Yolngu language Matha , was written by the Australian musician Paul Kelly with the participation of all indigenous band members, including Yunupingu.

Yunupingu released six albums as a band leader: Homeland Movement (March 1989), Tribal Voice (October 1991), Freedom (November 1993), Birrkuta - Wild Honey (November 1996), One Blood (June 1999), Garma (November 2000). Yunupingu has toured and made studio recordings with Yothu Yindi in numerous countries. In Germany he and his band became known through their collaboration with Peter Maffay on his album "Encounters".

From 2007 he stopped performing publicly as a musician due to health problems. In 2009 his condition had improved so much that he could make music on stage at the 2009 Garma Festival . It was his last musical appearance in public.

Obituaries

There were numerous obituaries following his death from kidney failure at the age of 56:

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that a uniquely talented musician, passionate Aboriginal rights advocate and sincere great friend has died. The Australian Minister for School Education Peter Garrett , who was the band leader of Midnight Oil in the early 1980s and collaborated with Yothu Yindi, was close friends with Yunupingu. At first Garrett refused to believe that his friend, a very successful musician and pioneer, had died. The Minister of Indigenous Affairs Warren Snowdon stressed that in addition to his achievements as a musician, Yunupingu was also a great teacher and a fighter for the right to health of the Aborigines. The then opposition leader in the Australian parliament and Prime Minister Tony Abbott , who has been in office since 2013, said that with Yunupingu an important leader had been lost. He was not only of great importance to the Aborigines, but also to the entire society of Australia. He died early, but unfortunately this is also a major problem for the entire indigenous population of Australia.

For the state memorial event - on the occasion of the death of Dr. Yunupingu - Acting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came to Gulkula in Arnhem Land with Jenny Macklin, Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Minister Peter Garrett on June 30, 2013 . Gulkula is the traditional and historically significant place for the Yolngu where the annual Garma cultural festival takes place.

Web links

• Pictures from the state memorial ceremony on June 30, 2013 with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Individual evidence

1. ↑ blogs.crikey.com.au (Declaration by the Yunupingu family) : A message from his family on the use of the name & images of the late Mr Yunupingu , June 5, 2013, in English, accessed June 14 2013
2. ^ ^{A b c} webcitation.org ( June 5, 2013 memento on WebCite ): Natasha Robinson: Songlines fades for Treaty man Mandaway Yunupingu , December 6, 2008, in English, accessed June 13, 2013
3. ↑ yothuyindi.com ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Mandawuy on Aboriginality and Culture. Conciling with Aboriginality and Culture , in English, accessed June 12, 2013 
4. ↑ smh.com.au : Artist Saw the Stars Crying , June 13, 2012, in English, accessed June 12, 2013
5. ^ Australian of the Year : Mandway Yunupingu , in English, accessed June 12, 2013
6. ↑ livingknowledge.anu.edu.au : About both ways education , in English, accessed June 13, 2013
7. ↑ teaching.nt.gov.au : Yirrkala , in English, accessed June 13, 2013
8. ↑ ^{a b} smh.com.au : Yunupingu broke indigenous barriers , in English, accessed June 12, 2013
9. ↑ yothuyindi.com ( Memento of the original from June 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : tour deates & news , in English, accessed June 14, 2013 
10. ↑ abc.net.au : Yothu Yindi frontman dies aged 56 , June 6, 2013, in English, accessed June 12, 2013
11. ↑ ibtimes.com : Reissa Su: PM Kevin Rudd Names 6 Female Ministers to Make Parliament of Australia History , July 1, 2013, in English, accessed August 13, 2013