Aboriginal leader Yunupingu, recognized as a "
living national treasure
" by Australia and a pioneer in defending the rights of his people, died Monday at the age of 74, the government announced.
Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lamented the loss of "
one of Australia's greatest
", a "
statesman
".
Yunupingu had notably played a crucial role in the struggle of the Aborigines for the recognition of their land rights, in the 1960s and 1970s. He had also campaigned for decades for the Aborigines, who populated Australia before the arrival of European settlers , be recognized by the Constitution, an issue which will be the subject of a referendum at the end of the year.
Petition against a mining project
Originally from Arnhem Land in the far north of the country, Yunupingu came to prominence in the early 1960s when he and his Yolngu people petitioned Parliament on tree bark to protest against a mining project on his lands.
The leader, who died of an illness, was also a "
master of ceremonies and repository of song lines
" through which the Yolngu people perpetuate their oral memory, the Yothu Yindi Foundation pointed out.
It was recognized as a "
living national treasure
" by the Australian state in 1998.
“
Yunupingu moved in two worlds with authority, power and grace and worked for them to form a whole, together
”, underlined Anthony Albanese.
Aborigines have populated Australia for some 65,000 years, according to estimates, but have been subjected to different forms of discrimination, oppression and dispossession since the beginning of British colonization in the 18th century.
