Indigenous College of Education and Research
The Unaipon School
The Unaipon School
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."
