James Unaipon (Ngunaitponi)

James Unaipon
photograph
Reproduced in: My life story by David Unaipon. Adelaide:Aborigines Friendly Association. (1954)
National Library of Australia

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA'S
FEDERATION GATEWAY


JAMES UNAIPON (NGUNAITPONI) (1834-1908)

During the 1890s, the only place where Aboriginal Australians were present on the electoral roll, and did vote, was Point McLeay in the colony of South Australia. The Point McLeay settlers voted in the election of delegates to attend the 1897 Federal Constitutional Convention and the Federation referenda of 1898 and 1899.

James Unaipon (or Ngunaitponi), father of David, was an early convert to Christianity who was elected the first Ngarrindjeri deacon of the church at the Raukkan (Point McLeay) settlement. He worked as a deputy to the missionary, George Taplin, teaching in the school, assisting with church services and undertaking general pastoral work. Unaipon co-authored, with Taplin, the anthropological work, The Narrinyeri, which recorded the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Ngarrindjeri people. After the death of Taplin in 1879 Unaipon continued as a spiritual leader of his people.

Books of interest

Jenkin, Graham. (1995). Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri. Point McLeay: Raukkan Publishers].

Stretton, Pat and Christine Finnimore. (1991). How South Australian Aborigines Lost the Vote: Some Side Effects of Federation. Adelaide: Old Parliament House.

Taplin, George. The Narrinyeri. Adelaide: E.S. Wigg & Son, 1878.

 

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