David and James Unaipon - Ngarrindjeri Educators
David Unaipon (1872-1967), a Ngarrindjeri man, was born at Raukkan (Point McLeay Mission) on the shores of Lake Alexandrina in South Australia. He is commemorated on the fifty dollar note. his father was James Unaipon (1834-1908), or Ngunaitponi, a Ngarrindjeri community leader and lay preacher.
As a young man, James Unaipon taught himself to read and write English. In the early 1860s he became associated with George Taplin the founder of Point McLeay Mission. On the Mission James taught in the school and was a lay preacher in the church. He also travelled in the area teaching and preaching in Ngarrindjeri camps.
James Unaipon's famous son David had a passion for music, literature, science and religion. He was the first published Aboriginal writer, an inventor, a musician, an orator and a preacher. In 1953 he was awarded a Cornation Medal for his achievements.
David Unaipon used his abilities as a lecturer and a writer to promote the interests of his people and to influence public opinion. In a 1951 autobiographical account he wrote of the difficulties of this task and the influence of Christianity on his life:
"It was in this Book (Bible) I learned that God made all nations of one blood and the in Christ Jesus colour and racial distinctions disappeared. This helped me many times when I was refused accommodation because of my colour and race."
In 1988 a new Aboriginal literary award, the David Unaipon Award, was established to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.
In 1909 David Unaipon obtained a Commonwealth patent for the modification to existing, mechanical sheep-shears. He applied his understanding of curvilinear motion to change the motion of the cutting shear from circular to straight. This greatly improved the efficiency of the mechanical sheep-shears.
From 1909 to 1944 David Unaipon made a number of other patent applications for inventions including a centrifugal motor. His main passion, was however, the search for perpetual motion. He conducted experiments and made models in an attempt to discover the 'secrets' of perpetual motion. He wrote in his 1951 Life Story:
"Even if I never arrive, I shall always recall with pleasure the hours I have spent and the experiments I have tried in endeavouring to solve a scientific problem."