John Kundereri Moriarty | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1938 (age 86–87) |
| Education | Bachelor of Arts |
| Alma mater | Flinders University |
| Occupation(s) | Designer, Businessman |
| Employer | Jumbana Group |
| Known for | Art, Sport |
| Spouse | Ros Moriarty |
| Relatives | Charlie Perkins (cousin) |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Kundereri Moriarty | ||
| Date of birth | c. 1938 (age 86–87) | ||
| Place of birth | Borroloola, Northern Territory,Australia | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Port Thistle | |||
| Adelaide Juventus | |||
| Adelaide Croatia | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 December 2008 | |||
John Kundereri "Jumbana" MoriartyAM (bornc. 1938) is anAboriginal Australian artist, government advisor and formersoccer player. He is also known as founder of the Balarinji Design Studio, for painting twoQantas jets withAboriginal motifs.
Today a full member of theYanyuwa people of his birthplace, and belonging ceremonially to therainbow serpent and kangarooDreamings, Moriarty has held senior and executive positions in theDepartment of Aboriginal Affairs at both federal and state government levels. He is a long-time advocate forIndigenous rights andIndigenous arts.
Moriarty was born around 1938[a] inBorroloola in theNorthern Territory of Australia, to a tribal Aboriginal woman, Kathleen (Morr-my-bina), and anIrishman fromCounty Kerry, John Moriarty.[2] As such he was classified as "half-caste". He was removed from his mother at four years of age, making him part of theStolen Generation,[3][1] and did not see his mother for another 10 years.[4]
Up until that age, he spoke only theYanyuwa language. His Aboriginal name is Jumbana and his ceremonial name is Kundareri. He explained that Kundareri is a formal name, linking him to culture andsacred and other ceremonies, while Jumbana is more informal, like agiven name, which is allocated by the older people in the community and sometimes called a "bush name".[1]
After being removed from his school atRoper River (after thebombing of Darwin[5]), he was taken viaAlice Springs andAdelaide to a home for Aboriginal children atMulgoa in the west ofSydney during World War II.[b]
A few years later, in January 1949,[1] he was moved toSt Francis House inAdelaide,[3] where he metGordon Briscoe,Charlie Perkins,Malcolm Cooper,Vincent Copley,Richie Bray, and others, who would later become Indigenous leaders and activists.[4][1][6][7][8] It was also at St Francis where he started playing football. His talent was recognised, and as it became his passion, he was given a pair of football boots and a new goal in life.[9][4][10]
In 1970 Moriarty graduated fromFlinders University with aBachelor of Arts, the first Aboriginal person to do so.[2] He was later a recipient of aChurchill Fellowship.[11]
Moriarty was a foundation member of South Australia'sAborigines' Progress Association in 1964, becoming vice-president of the organisation, which fought forland rights and established the groundwork for anAboriginal legal service (now referred to as anATSILS, a specialisedcommunity legal centre).[4]
He was a member of the committee which ran theAboriginal Publications Foundation, which published the magazine for Indigenous people,Identity, in the 1970s.[12]
Moriarty playedassociation football (soccer) forSouth Australian First Division teamsPort Thistle andAdelaide Juventus before playing forAdelaide Croatia, alongsideSt Francis House schoolmates Perkins (also his cousin) and Briscoe.[when?][3][4][10][13]
In 1960 he was selected to play his first game for the state, which meant travelling toWestern Australia. In order for him to be allowed to travel out of the state, theSouth Australian Soccer Federation had to get permission from theProtector of Aborigines[4] (Clarence Edmund Bartlett,[14] who also wrote a book aboutPoint McLeay mission[15]). Also in 1960, Moriarty was the first recognisedIndigenous Australian to be selected for a national soccer team.[9] He was selected to play in anAustralian national team tour toHong Kong, but the tour was cancelled after Australia's expulsion fromFIFA.[3]
Moriarty's career ended after a collision with agoalkeeper, after he had represented the state of South Australia 17 times. After retiring, Moriarty served on the board of Adelaide Juventus (laterAdelaide City).[3]
Moriarty, along with co-founder Ros Moriarty, established John Moriarty Football (JMF),[16] focused ongrassroots participation, which awardsscholarships for young Indigenous soccer players.[17][9] JMF has received international praise from FIFA,[18] and has received money from outside sources such asTim Cahill.[19] As of 2020[update],Craig Foster is a board member of the JMF.[9]
One of the early recipients of a scholarship wasShay Evans,[20][21] who played her debut game for theYoung Matildas in 2018, and as of 2020[update] plays in theW-League.[9]
From November 2020, as part ofIndigenous Football Week, JMF started offering new Community Scholarships Pathways Program, which in addition to football training, offers educational support.[9]
JMF has collaborated with theFootball Australia (FA) to offer community coaching and leadership training programs, and there is a strong Indigenous focus and emphasis on gender-equal quotas.[9]
JMF is one of several initiatives of the Moriarty Foundation.[22]
Indigenous Football Week was established in 2015.[23][24] It is an initiative of JMF, in partnership with FA, theProfessional Footballers Australia (PFA),SBS TV,NITV, andFOX Sports. Its fifth edition was celebrated in JMF communities in the Northern Territory,New South Wales, andQueensland.[16]
Australian rules footballerAdam Goodes was patron of Indigenous Football Week in 2020.[9]
In 1983 Moriarty founded the Jumbana Group in Adelaide, with the Balarinji brand being the most prominent component.[1]
In 1994 Moriarty was commissioned by the Australian national airline,Qantas, to design artwork for aBoeing 747-400 aeroplane. The finished result was the "Wunala Dreaming", which was first displayed on (VH-OJB[25]), then on (VH-OEJ[26]).[27] This was "the largest piece of movable Aboriginal art".[4] A second aeroplane, aBoeing 747-300, was painted in 1995 and is known as "Nalanji Dreaming" (VH-EBU[28]).[27][3]
He was also responsible for repainting twoNR class locomotive to Indigenous livery.[29]
His wife Ros Moriarty is managing director of the Jumbana Group and creative director of Balarinji Studio.[2]
Prior to founding Balarinji, Moriarty was apublic servant in various departments of Aboriginal Affairs, both state and federal.[citation needed] When living inCanberra in the late 1970s, he met Aboriginal activistCharlie Perkins, and, along withVince Copley and others, was referred to as one of (Charlie's) "angels" byJackie Huggins and others.[30]
Between 1994 and 2004 Moriarty served on the board of Indigenous Business Australia.[31]
He has also served on other boards and councils, includingSydney Harbour Federation Trust, theNational Indigenous Council, the National Aboriginal and Islander Health Council, the Australian International Cultural Committee, the NSW Government Aboriginal Business Round Table, theSustainable Minerals Institute at theUniversity of Queensland, the Northern Territory Tourist Commission, and theSouth Australian Museum. He has chaired theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board of the Australia Council, theATSIC Electoral Boundaries Review Committee, and the National Aboriginal Sports Corporation of Australia.[11]
In 2000, he wrote anautobiography,Saltwater Fella, published byViking Press.[32]
John and Ros Moriarty were married in 1982. Ros was born inTasmania, and graduated fromAustralian National University. She worked as a journalist forRadio Australia, and later worked in senior roles in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs inCanberra andSydney. She also received the Advance Australia Award for service to industry and commerce, and in 2010, published her memoir,Listening to Country.[2]
They have three children.[2]
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