Munggurrawuy Yunupingu

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Munggurrawuy Yunupingu (* 1907 near Yirrkala in northeastern Arnhem Land , Gove Peninsula , Northern Territory , Australia , † April 12, 1979 in Arnhem Land) was an artist, Elder of the Aborigines of the Gumatj from the Aboriginal tribe of the Yolngu . He was one of the first active fighters for land rights for the Aborigines in Australia.

Little is known about his early life. In the 1960s, he was a leader in the resistance to the construction of the Gove bauxite mine on Gove Peninsula . At that time, the government approved bauxite mining without consulting traditional landowners . When the bulldozers came and cleared the rainforest on the mine site, he defended a tree sacred to Yolngu with an ax. The tree still stands today. The suing Aborigines lost in court, but were able to conclude a user agreement with the mining company.

Munggurrawuy Yunupingu passed on his knowledge of the Yolgnu culture, lifestyle and painting skills to his children. His daughter was Gumbulu († 2012), an artist, his sons Galarrwuy and Mr Yunupingu († 2013), the bandleader of Yothu Yindi , are or were also Elder of Gutmaj.

The painters Munggurrawuy Yunupingu, Birrikitji Gumana and Narritjin Maymuru painted the paneling in the church of Yirrkala, which is now on display in the Buku-Larrngay Mulka Museum in Yirrkala. Yunupingu was also involved as a painter in the Yolngu Bark petition made from tree bark , which was presented to the Australian Parliament in 1963 in two languages.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ theaustralian.com : Artist and healer help reininvogorate Yolngu culture , in English, accessed on June 15, 2013
  2. ↑ artgallery.nsw.gov.au : Munggurrawuy Yunupingu , in English, accessed on June 14, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Yunupingu, Munggurrawuy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian artist and campaigner for the land rights of the Yolngu Aborigines
DATE OF BIRTH 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Yirrkala , Arnhem Land , Gove Peninsula , Northern Territory , Australia
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1979
Place of death Arnhem Land