David Gulpilil Biography

Fast Facts

• Has won the Darwin Australia Day Eisteddfod dance competition four times
• While being raised in traditional Aboriginal influences, he attended the school at Maningrida in Australia's North East Arnhem Land
• As a child, he was a trained as a hunter, tracker and ceremonial dancer
• Has written a couple volumes of children's stories based on Yolngu beliefs
• He sang a part in the recording of Margaret Sutherland's 1964 opera "The Young Kabbarli․"
• Performed in an autobiographical stage production at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 2004
• Initiated into the Mandhalpuyngu tribal group, his totemic animal is the eagle and his homeland is Maryuyu
• Was cast by British filmmaker Nicolas Roeg in the internationally acclaimed film "Walkabout" when he saw the then 16-year-olds skill as a tribal dancer