Yokununna

Yokununna or Yukun (died 13 October 1934) was an Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara man who was shot and killed in 1934 by mounted constable William (Bill) McKinnon at Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia. His family emphasise that his name was "Yukun", and that in Pitjantjatjara, Yukunngana would mean "I am Yukun." However, his name has historically been recorded as "Yokununna", much to the frustration of family.

His death led to the 1935 Commonwealth Board of Enquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of Aborigines near Ayers Rock. A few weeks into his search they came across Yukun, and five other men, who were travelling in a different direction to the murder and were highly unlikely to be involved, despite this they were questioned and detained. One of these men, Joseph Donald, returned to his family and told them the story.

Yukun was then buried near the waterhole but his body was later exhumed and removed from the site for the Board of Enquiry.

The Board found McKinnon not guilty of the killing but found that the “shooting of Yokununna […] though legally justified, was not warranted”. He was found guilty of violence towards the men. Mountford was angered by this finding and believed it to be unjust.

McKinnon was able to continue in his role within the police and was promoted to senior inspector in 1951.

Return of remains After the Board of Enquiry Yukun's remains were sent to the University of Adelaide by John Burton Cleland, the chairman of the Board of Enquiry, and his skull was inked 'Yockanunna [sic]. Complete Skeleton'''. In 2017 the remains were transferred to the South Australian Museum; at some point the skull was separated from the postcranial remains which are now unprovenanced. repatriated) to Uluru on 13 October 2022 (the 88th anniversary of his death); more than 100 people gathered and he was buried close to the Mutijulu Waterhole.

Legacy Comparisons have been drawn between the deaths of Yukun and Kumanjayi Walker.

Resources The story of McKinnon's killing of Yukun is detailed in Australian historian Mark McKenna's book, Return to Uluru: a killing, a hidden history, a story that goes to the heart of the nation'' (2021) published by Black Inc.

The family's experience throughout the repatriation has also been documented