Unaipon, David

David Unaipon, of the Ngarrindjeri people, was born in 1872 at the Point McLeay Mission, on the Lower Murray in South Australia. He was the fourth child of Evangelists James and Nymbulda Ngunaitponi, both Yaraldi speakers. He attended the mission school, became an avid reader and developed interests in philosophy, science and music. From the age of 13 he became a servant, then an apprentice boot-maker and organist at the mission.

In 1909 he developed a new mechanical hand piece for shearing sheep, which changed the motion of the blades from circular to straight. He also designed a centrifugal motor, a multi-radial wheel and a mechanical propulsion device. As early as 1914 he anticipated the design of the helicopter based on the principle of the boomerang. He deservedly gained a reputation of being 'Australia's Leonardo', but was unable to get financial backing to develop and patent his inventions.

Unaipon’s articles on Aboriginal Myths and Legends were published in newspapers and Christian magazines, a first for an Aboriginal man. His works included an article entitled 'Aboriginals: Their Traditions and Customs' in the Sydney Daily Telegraph (1924), 'The Story of the Mungingee' in The Home magazine (1925), and a booklet entitled Native Legends (1929). His prose was clearly influenced by Milton and Bunyan.

He became prominent in public life as a spokesman for Aboriginal people, was often called upon to participate in Royal Commissions and Inquiries into aboriginal issues. As an employee of the Aborigines Friends Association for many years, he travelled widely and became well known through south-eastern Australia lecturing on his ideas, and speaking about Aboriginal legends and customs. He also spoke of the need for 'sympathetic co-operation' between whites and blacks, and for equal rights for both black and white Australians.

In 1928-1929 he assisted the Bleakley Inquiry into Aboriginal welfare. In 1934, he urged the Commonwealth to assume responsibility for Aboriginal affairs and proposed that an independent board replace South Australia's Chief Protector of Aborigines.

Unaipon was awarded a Coronation Medal in 1953. He died in 1967 and was buried in Point McLeay cemetery. In 1985 he posthumously received the FAW Patricia Weickhardt Award for Aboriginal writers. In 1988 an annual national David Unaipon Award was established for unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.

His portrait is featured on the Australian fifty dollar note, the mission and several of his inventions appearing in the background.