Mandawuy Yunupingu

Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu
Performing with Yothu Yindi at the opening ceremony, 2000 Paralympics, October, Sydney
Background information
Native name	Gudjuk
Birth name	Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu
Born	(1956-09-17)17 September 1956 Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia
Died	2 June 2013(2013-06-02) (aged 56) Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia
Genres	Aboriginal rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, school principal
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1985–2013

Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu (formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu, skin name Gudjuk), AC, (17 September 1956 – 2 June 2013) was an Aboriginal Australian musician and educator. From 1986 he was the front man of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi as a singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 1989 he became assistant principal of the Yirrkala Community School – his former school – and was principal for the following two years. He helped establish the Yolngu Action Group and introduced the Both Ways system, which recognised traditional Aboriginal teaching alongside Western methods. Yothu Yindi released six albums, Homeland Movement (March 1989), Tribal Voice (October 1991), Freedom (November 1993), Birrkuta - Wild Honey (November 1996), One Blood (June 1999), Garma (November 2000). The group's top 20 ARIA Singles Chart appearances were "Treaty" (1991) and "Djäpana (Sunset Dreaming)" (1992). He was appointed Australian of the Year for 1992 by the National Australia Day Council. In April 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Queensland University of Technology. In December 2012 Yothu Yindi were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2007 he was diagnosed with advanced renal failure and died in 2013, aged 56.