Hobbles Danayarri

Hobbles Danayarri (c. 1925 – 24 March 1988) was a Mudburra man, born on Wave Hill Station, Northern Territory, Australia and he was a stockman, Aboriginal lawman and community leader.

Life in the Northern Territory Danayarri's totem was the barramundi and it is said that when his father speared the fish, and his mother ate it, the spirit of the fish became Danayarri. This was evidenced by a small mark on the right side of his forehead which showed where the fish had been speared. He was born into relationship with country and grew up learning his culture and living with his people; as a part of this he learned songs, visited sacred places and performed ritual associated with his land. Because of this, in 1966, he joined the Wave Hill walk-off, in which he and 200 of his countrymen, demanded land rights and fair wages. This account of Cook's story was designed to tell the story of the colonisation of Australia from "the other side of the beach" and his view that Cook was trespassing. He said of this:

Rose believes that Danayarri's stories, which are a form of spoken-word poetic history, are some of the greatest pieces of Australian literature and that they deserve to be significantly more well-known then they are.

Danayarri also resented the presence of 'the church' in his community and frequently asked them the leave. On one occasion he cut open a Bible with a butcher's knife and shouted:

He wanted his people to follow their own law rather than that of the white man's god.

Danayarri died of cancer on 24 March 1988 at Katherine Hospital and was buried at Wave Hill station. Following his death Danyarri believed that his body would become a shooting star and that his spirit would become a new life and that another spirit would be created that would stay forever on his country.