Galarrwuy Yunupingu AM LL.D. |
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Born |
Melville Bay, Northern Territory, Australia |
30 June 1948 ||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||||||
Known for | Politics, music | ||||||||||||||||||
Movement | Aboriginal land rights in Australia | ||||||||||||||||||
Relatives |
Mandawuy Yunupingu Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu |
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Awards |
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"Gurindji Blues" | |
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Single by Galarrwuy Yunupingu | |
B-side | The Tribal Land |
Released | 1971 |
Format | 7" Single |
Length | Introduction by Vincent Lingiari – 1:06 Gurindji Blues – 2:30 |
Label | RCA Victor 101937 |
Writer(s) | Ted Egan |
Producer(s) | Ron Wills |
Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu, AM LL.D. (born 30 June 1948) is a leader in the Australian Indigenous community, and has been involved in the fight for Land Rights throughout his career.
He was born at Melville Bay near Yirrkala on 30 June 1948, and is a member of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people. He attended the Mission School at Yirrkala in his formative years, and moved to Brisbane to study at the Methodist Bible College for two years, returning to Gove in 1967.
In the early 1960s, with his father, Gumatj clan leader Mungurrawuy, he entered the struggle for Land Rights, and helped draw up the Bark Petition at Yirrkala. He came to national attention in the late 1960s for his role in the landmark, but unsuccessful Gove Land Rights Case. This legal action was the first by Indigenous Australians to challenge mining 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 (NLC), the authority appointed under the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act of 1976 to represent traditional Aboriginal landowners and Aboriginal people. He was chairman of the NLC from 1977–80, an executive member until 1983 when he was re-elected as chairman. He has led a number of negotiations with mining and government bodies.