Wonggu Mununggurr was born during 1880 in Northeast Arnhem land. Specifically, he was born in
Caledon Bay to the Djapu clan and Dhuwa Moeity. The Djapu are also a part of a large group of aboriginal people known as Yolngu in the North-East Arnhem Land region. Three of his sons were arrested in 1934 for an assault on three Japanese trepangers. Around the same time, in 1934, Wonggu willingly donated a piece of land for a church to be built and for future missionary work. Eventually after extensive lobbying, Wonggu's sons were released in 1936. This led to Wonggu Mununggurr moving his family during the years of 1937-38 from Caledon Bay to the Yirrkala. From here he also helped
Donald Thompson with guides and scouts for the area. Upon first meeting Wonggu, Thomson described him as appearing over fifty, and yet still looking to be in the prime of his life. Specifically, Thomson notes Wonggu as being "a tall, powerful man with intelligent face, deep set eyes and a heavy beard, trimmed almost in Van Dyck style.” At Yirrkala, intergroup differences fueled tensions and fighting occurred. Regardless, Wonggu helped to establish Yirrkala for the long term. Wonggu was an elder in the Djapu clan. While having this high status, he is one of the Yolngu leaders in the Caldeon Bay area. This status stated that Wonggu could have many wives. Wonggu had more than twenty wives and at least sixty children. In addition, he also brought many distant families for Wonggu. In these types of clans back in this time, most of the children take the same talents as the ancestors. It comes to no surprise that Wonggu's sons have also became well-known artists in this area alongside their dad. Wonggu would sit down with them and teach them how he does his specific style and adds their clan designs into them also. Donald Thompson created an irregular warfare unit in 1941 during
World War II called
Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit (NTSRU). NTSRU was mainly made up of aboriginal people from the Northern Territory of Arnhem Land, Australia, with 50 Yolngu people, such as Wonggu and many of his sons, prepared to fend off impending Japanese invasion. Sadly, the Unit received no pay nor recognition until 1992, when only two former members remained alive. Mununggurr met with Donald Thompson at Caledon Bay to set up peace between the nation and government. The friendship was sparked after Mununggurr's children were arrested and gave Thompson a "Måk" (
message stick) to give to their father. Soon after, Wonggu gave a Måk to Thompson as a message for the government, stating that the Yolngu people would stop killing outsiders if they were no longer being harassed. The design on this stick showed Wonggu sitting peacefully in his mother's country. The impact of this act was incredibly significant: the serial massacres of Indigenous Australians finally ended after nearly 150 years. He also gave Thompson some bark paintings as a show of respect. In 1935, Mununggurr started painted his sacred miny'tl at Yirrkala. The confusing part about his paintings is that Mununggurr painted the clan designs of Yirritja rather than his own clan designs which were Dhuwa. This friendship between Thompson and Wonggu was established and Thomson took it upon himself to rectify current maps and assign names to unnamed landmarks upon meeting the several influential people on his journey, such as Wonggu. Among the names he bestowed, many were in tribute to patrons and family members. In homage to his dear friend Wonggu, he named a creek "Wongo Creek". In 1936 Wilbur Chaseling along with the support from the Northern Territory Administration (NTA) had surveyed Arnhem Land's coast and chose Yirrkala as the site for a new mission. This was a
Methodist Overseas Mission (MOM) whose goal was to spread Christianity as well as help support the Yirrkala community. As the mission gained ground it sought funding from artwork made by local people, Wonggu Mununggurr included. In 1947 Wonggu Mununggurr alongside many other leaders of the Yirrkala community did a series of paintings. These paintings were originally done in natural pigments on bark amounting to over 200 pieces. Anthropologists
Catherine and
Ronald Berndt commissioned those works for research and record of indigenous art. Soon thereafter these 200 works were produced the Berndt's recommissioned the art to be done on mediums of crayon and paper so that it could be transported without fear of destruction. Now many of Wonggu Mununggurr's crayon works are held in the
Berndt Museum of Anthropology of the
University of Western Australia, Perth. After Thomson’s death, his ashes were scattered across Caledon Bay in 1970. Two of Wonggu’s sons - Djiriny and Maw - rode on the airplane while the ashes were scattered. Even after Wonggu and Thomson had both passed, the connection Wonggu’s family shared with Thomson held strong. == Caledon Bay crisis ==