Talk:David Unaipon

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Good articleDavid Unaipon has been listed as one of the Language and literature good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
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DateProcessResult
May 24, 2026Good article nomineeListed
Did You Know
A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "Did you know?" column on June 14, 2026.
The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that one of the first known books by an Aboriginal Australian author, written by David Unaipon, was not printed under his name for more than 70 years?
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Untitled

do they have pictures?

unfortunately it wld appear so, does anyone have a better pic? → bsnowball 14:57, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Widely known?

He was the most widely known Aborigine in Australia

  • Do we have a cite for that? I'm reasonably well informed, but the first I ever heard of him was when the $50 note came out. Maybe this says more about me than about him ... -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 04:09, 23 January 2011 (UTC)
G'day Jack. If you think a cite is needed, (perhaps for safety's sake it should be) use this.
'David Ngunaitponi, then aged fifteen, evinced the same qualities as a lad that were later to make him famous as an adult. .. this man of manifold talents who was destined to be widely acclaimed as a genius, and who was to become Australia's best-known Aborigine.' Graham Jenkin, Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri, The Story of the Lower Murray lakes Tribes,(1979)1985 Rigby reprint p.185. I'm on my downunder leg of my tour and picked this up a month ago.Nishidani (talk) 04:42, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Separatist?

What does "making an attempt to provide a separate territory for Aboriginals in Central and Northern Australia" mean? Did he actively promote a rebellion, lobby for an indignenous reserve, or what?124.197.15.138 (talk) 06:28, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

He certainly wasn't citing violent rebellion, as far as I can see. Unaipon was quite conservative in many ways and although I haven't seen a specific source that expands on the reference you give, I would guess that he was looking for an Indigenous reserve rather than a sovereign nation. --Roisterer (talk) 07:11, 9 June 2012 (UTC)

A small point of accuracy

Are we able to describe his interest in perpetual motion in less romantic terms? In an encyclopedic article, it seems unsound to describe investigations into perpetual motion as an attempt to harness its secrets. There's good reason that the mainstream position is that perpetual motion offers nothing that can be harnessed. Of course there's nothing wrong with maintaining an interest in the proposition of perpetual motion. I certainly do—it's an interesting idea! But until we see any worthy results, we must consider it physically invalid. David Unaipon was clearly an intelligent man, and his interest in perpetual motion does nothing to diminish that. But let's not repeatedly describe perpetual motion as holding secrets that are waiting to be uncovered, even if various people throughout history have imagined that it might be. Aboctok (talk) 15:37, 27 September 2012 (UTC)

It's what the sources state and was what Unaipon was trying to do. He was not just "maintaining an interest", he was actually "obsessed with discovering the secret of perpetual motion". Even into the 1960s a theoretical basis for perpetual motion was being seriously investigated by some scientists and Unaipon was self trained, so it is to his credit that he investigated it as well. Wayne (talk) 16:21, 27 September 2012 (UTC)


Patents

I have found the sheep-shearer patent, but no sign of the other 18. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 09:55, 10 July 2016 (UTC).

Vintage Australian Music

Unaipon MarchTradimus (talk) 08:28, 11 October 2016 (UTC)

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GA review

Passed. Joko2468 (talk) 13:58, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

This review is transcluded from Talk:David Unaipon/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: MCE89 (talk · contribs)

Reviewer: Joko2468 (talk · contribs) 09:19, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

General comments

Taking this up, great work on the article-- it's very well written and comprehensive. I added a U.S. PD tag for the lede image. Joko2468 (talk) 09:19, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the review Joko2468! I've replied to all of your comments below. MCE89 (talk) 11:39, 24 May 2026 (UTC)
Excellent thank you, congratulations-- well-deserved pass. Joko2468 (talk) 13:56, 24 May 2026 (UTC)
  • How come it switches between Unaipon and David in the Early life section? His father isn't referred to by the name Unaipon in the article so it doesn't seem to be serving a purpose for the reader
    Made this consistent as "Unaipon". --MCE
  • Is there anything about when Unaipon was popularly understood as the true author of Ramsay Smith's book? It seems like an important event.
    It's a good question, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find a solid answer. As far as I can tell it wasn't widely known until 2001 when Muecke and Shoemaker republished the book under his name, but they say in the book that it had already been known for some years at that point. --MCE

Joko2468 (talk) 09:19, 23 May 2026 (UTC)


Randomised spot check of citations

14, 15, 27, 51, 61

  • 14: this is all supported, though you may wish to clarify that it was a watercolour portrait-- I'd assumed it was a formal photograph
    Done. --MCE
  • 27: could you provide the quotation supporting this?
    Yep, here it is: ‘My Life Story’ concludes with David Unaipon’s statement on how best to deal with ‘the aboriginal problem’. He makes a plea for co-operation: ‘Colour and race prejudice should be be laid aside and equal rights given to both black and white Australians. Sympathetic co-operation is the keystone to success in solving the native problem.’ He insists that, since he is a product of missionary work, he has a duty to testify to its value: ‘the only hope for the improvement of my race lies along the line of properly-conducted missionary enterprise, which goes down to the fundamental needs of the aborigines and gives them the inner power to reconstruct their lives which have become shattered by contact with white civilisation’. --MCE

Joko2468 (talk) 09:19, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

Checklist

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose, spelling, grammar, and understandability): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable, as shown by a source spot-check.
    a (reference section): b (inline citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects): b (focused):
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars, etc.:
  6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:

Suggestions outside the scope of the review

  • The Point McLeay Mission is presently overlinked in the Early life section, it should probably be removed from the image caption, same with William Ramsay Smith in the Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginals section
    Removed the links from the image captions. --MCE

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. Track your hook after promotion. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by TarnishedPath (talk) 05:01, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

(
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David Unaipon
David Unaipon
  • ... that the first known book by an Aboriginal Australian author, David Unaipon (pictured), was not printed under his name for more than 70 years?
  • Source: Muecke, Stephen; Shoemaker, Adam, eds. (2001). "Introduction". Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. pp. xi–xliv. ISBN 978-0-522-84905-9. David Unaipon is acknowledged as the first Indigenous Australian writer by virtue of the pamphlets he wrote, published and distributed from 1927. It has also been known for some years that he wrote a book-length manuscript in English. These stories, collected in manuscript and typescript as 'Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines', were written in 1924–25 and reside in the State Library of New South Wales. They are presented here for the first time in their original form, published under Unaipon's own name.... How could it be that the medical officer, coroner and amateur anthropologist William Ramsay Smith obtained the copyright to Unaipon's entire manuscript and edited it for an English edition under his own name, released under the title Myths & Legends of the Australian Aboriginals in 1930?
    • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/HSwMS Västervik
    • Comment: I'm about an hour over the 7-day timer, hopefully that's okay! I know DYK typically doesn't like "first" hooks, but this hook is supported by every source I know of and is pretty uncontestable. I can come up with some alt hooks if needed.
Improved to Good Article status by MCE89 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 31 past nominations.

MCE89 (talk) 14:59, 31 May 2026 (UTC).

  • I shall review this. Please note that due to being busy in RL, my review may appear unfinished, temporarily. Thank you for your patience. Storye book (talk) 06:03, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
More information General: Article is new enough and long enough ...
General: Article is new enough and long enough
Close
More information Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems ...
Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Close
More information Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation ...
Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Close
More information Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px. ...
Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Close
QPQ: Done.

Overall: Thank you for this clear, detailed and useful article. In my opinion, the public deserves to hear about this.

  • This nom was only slightly overdue, and our readers need to notice this article. So no problem there.
  • Good to go. Storye book (talk) 06:37, 1 June 2026 (UTC)
I will promote a slight variation of the ALT0a ... that one of the first known books by an Aboriginal Australian author, David Unaipon (pictured), was not printed under his name for more than 70 years?
See Gandangara#Burragorang Valley mission, "The Gully", and Goulburn "blacks' camp" where it states that William Russell, a Gandangara elder, "wrote an important autobiography just before his death in 1914 at the age of 84". TarnishedPathtalk 04:59, 2 June 2026 (UTC)
@TarnishedPath, I’m fine with that change if you really think it’s necessary, but I don’t think any sources call Russell’s writing a book. It’s 20-page pamphlet/booklet (which Unaipon wrote several of as well) - I don’t think there’s any real dispute over the fact that Myths and Legends was the first book-length work by an Aboriginal writer. MCE89 (talk) 05:08, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

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