Early Life
He was born in Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, an Aboriginal Reserve in the northeastern part of the Northern Territory of Australia. He is a member of the Yolngu people. His father's name is Mangurrawut Yunupingu. His skin name was Gudjuk, which means hawk. His name was changed to Mandawuy when a family member with the same name died, in line with Yolngu custom. Yunupingu means "rock that stands against time".
He is the younger brother of Galarrwuy Yunupingu, a senior elder of Arnhem Land, who was Australian of the Year in 1978 and remains a force in Australian politics. One of his sisters is the artist Gulumbu Yunupingu.
Read more about this topic: Mandawuy Yunupingu
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)