It is with great sadness that the Chairman, members and staff of the Northern Land Council record the passing of Kumunjayi Kurrnganykarri Jimija Dixon, who passed away on 15 November 2020.
Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to Kumunjayi’s family and kin across his beloved Mudburra country and beyond.
Kumunjayi was first elected to the Full Council of the Northern Land Council as representative for the Murranji ward from 1984 to 1986 and served again from 1989 to 1992.
He most recently served as a member of the NLC Full Council from 2012 to 2019.
Kumunjayi started work “in the cattle” at an early age and by the age of 15 he was driving cattle from Newcastle Waters to Camooweal and Dajarra in western Queensland.
While most of his working life was spent on Newcastle Waters – where he rose to the position of Head Stockman – Kumunjayi also worked on pastoral leases across the NT, including Beetaloo, Flora Valley, Birrindudu, Mungabroom, Walhallow, Delamere, Murranji, Humbert River and Hayfield pastoral leases.
On 28 April 1966, Kumunjayi, his fellow stockmen and their families walked off Newcastle Waters pastoral lease and camped at the Union Paddock, near to present-day Marlinja. Their strike was in protest at their poor working conditions and wages on the station. Many of the strikers remained at the Union Paddock through to June 1967. The Newcastle Waters strike predated - but is less well-known than - the Wave Hill walk-off in August 1966 but Kumunjayi and the brave men and women he was with deserve our enduring respect and admiration for their early and vital contribution to the Land Rights struggles in the NT.
Following his retirement from the cattle Kumunjayi dedicated himself to the protection and maintenance of his language and culture, working alongside his Mudburra and Jingili countrymen and women to preserve their language and culture for future generations to share, learn and celebrate in books and other publications that recorded the bicultural knowledge of the Jingili and Mudburra peoples.
Kumunjayi was a key contributor to the Mudburra to English Dictionary published in late 2019.
Vale Kumunjayi Kurrnganykarri Jimija Dixon.
Location: Darwin
It is with great sadness that the Chairman, members and staff of the Northern Land Council record the passing of Kumunjayi Kurrnganykarri Jimija Dixon, who passed away on 15 November 2020.
Our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to Kumunjayi’s family and kin across his beloved Mudburra country and beyond.
Kumunjayi was first elected to the Full Council of the Northern Land Council as representative for the Murranji ward from 1984 to 1986 and served again from 1989 to 1992.
He most recently served as a member of the NLC Full Council from 2012 to 2019.
Kumunjayi started work “in the cattle” at an early age and by the age of 15 he was driving cattle from Newcastle Waters to Camooweal and Dajarra in western Queensland.
While most of his working life was spent on Newcastle Waters – where he rose to the position of Head Stockman – Kumunjayi also worked on pastoral leases across the NT, including Beetaloo, Flora Valley, Birrindudu, Mungabroom, Walhallow, Delamere, Murranji, Humbert River and Hayfield pastoral leases.
On 28 April 1966, Kumunjayi, his fellow stockmen and their families walked off Newcastle Waters pastoral lease and camped at the Union Paddock, near to present-day Marlinja. Their strike was in protest at their poor working conditions and wages on the station. Many of the strikers remained at the Union Paddock through to June 1967. The Newcastle Waters strike predated - but is less well-known than - the Wave Hill walk-off in August 1966 but Kumunjayi and the brave men and women he was with deserve our enduring respect and admiration for their early and vital contribution to the Land Rights struggles in the NT.
Following his retirement from the cattle Kumunjayi dedicated himself to the protection and maintenance of his language and culture, working alongside his Mudburra and Jingili countrymen and women to preserve their language and culture for future generations to share, learn and celebrate in books and other publications that recorded the bicultural knowledge of the Jingili and Mudburra peoples.
Kumunjayi was a key contributor to the Mudburra to English Dictionary published in late 2019.
Vale Kumunjayi Kurrnganykarri Jimija Dixon.
