The Death Of Yunupingu, An Aboriginal Australian “National Treasure”

According to his family, Yunupingu, 74, one of Australia’s most important Indigenous leaders, passed away on Monday, only months before a referendum on whether to finally recognize the community in the country’s constitution. Yunupingu is well-known for his work as a land rights campaigner; he played a key role in convincing the Australian government to finally recognize traditional ownership documentation. In a statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to Yunupingu as “one of the finest Australians” and a “national treasure.”

The family had requested that his given name not be used following his death in accordance with Aboriginal custom. “Yunupingu moved in two realms with authority, power, and elegance and he sought to make them whole together,” Albanese added. “With his passing contemplate what we have lost… A guy who stood strong in his home nation and tried to raise our whole continent in the process,” he said. Indigenous Australians have lived in the land for at least 65,000 years, but since British colonization in 1788, they have been persecuted and discriminated against on a massive scale. Yunupingu, who was born in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1948, has collaborated with several Australian prime ministers to create landmark Indigenous rights laws. “Our father was driven by a vision for the future of our nation, the role of his people in the nation, and the legitimate place for Aboriginal people everywhere,” Binmila Yunupingu said in a statement.

Australian officials took the first step last week towards conducting a referendum to recognize Indigenous people in the constitution and establish an Indigenous “Voice to Parliament” to advise lawmakers on issues affecting the lives of Indigenous people. Albanese is betting his reputation on a referendum on the matter, scheduled to take place between October and December. Yunupingu was named “one of our greatest Australians” by opposition leader Peter Dutton, whose Liberal Party has yet to clear its position on the referendum.