Gatjil Djerrkura OAM (Yolŋu Matha:Gätjil Djerrkura) (30 June 1949 – 26 May 2004) was an Aboriginal leader and Indigenous spokesman in the Northern Territory and Australia.[1][2]
He was a senior elder of the Wangurri Aboriginal clan of the Yolngu people. He was responsible for a number of traditional and ceremonial activities on behalf of his clan and the East Arnhem Land/Yirrkala Aboriginal community. He attended school at the Yirrkala Mission School and later attended bible college in Brisbane.[1]
He served as Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and was appointed to this role on 6 December 1996 and held it until 2000. In this role he advocated for Australia to become a republic and for Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.[2] In so doing he was a core part of the republican movement in Australia and he led the push for the addition of a new preamble to the Constitution of Australia which recognised to original and continuing custodianship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; this was ultimately included in the 1999 Australian republic referendum.[2]
In 1984 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to the Aboriginal community. Later, in 2001 he also received a Centenary Medal for services to the Australian community.[1]
He died on 26 May 2004.[3]
His son Nathan Djerrkura played for Geelong and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League.[4]
Positions
[edit]- Chairman of the Batchelor College Council, NT
- Director of the Board of the Indigenous Land Corporation
- Director of the Board of the Land Enterprise Australia
- Member of the Council for Aboriginal reconciliation
- General Manager of Yirrkala Business Enterprises in Nhulunbuy
- Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation
- Director of the Henry Walker Group
Oral history
[edit]Djerrkura's oral history, recorded 18 July 2000 with Peter Read, is available at the National Library of Australia.[5]
Further reading
[edit]- Clarke, Bernard A. (2010). Larrpan ga buduyurr : the spear and the cloud. Gatjil Djerrkura. ISBN 978-0-646-53865-5.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Austlit. "Gatjil Djerrkura | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ a b c McKenna, Mark (6 September 2005). "A symbolic life". Griffith Review. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ Mills, Terry (26 May 2004). "A deep loss for the Territory - Gatjil Djerrkura". Territory Stories. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Indigenous AFL player helping Arnhem kids". SBS News. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Gatjil Djerrkura interviewed by Peter Read and Jackie Huggins [sound recording] | Catalogue | National Library of Australia". catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
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