Kado Muir | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation(s) | Visual artist,anthropologist,Indigenous rights activist |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Political party | |
Kado Muir is anAustralian Aboriginal artist,anthropologist,[1]archaeologist, andIndigenous rights activist[2] inWestern Australia.
Muir's father wasdogger Peter Muir, who gave the importantsacred and archaeological siteSerpent's Glen, in theLittle Sandy Desert, its name. Muir spent 16 months in the area around theCarnarvon Ranges (also known as Katjarra) in 1962, and gave the first written account of therock art at Serpent's Glen, now known as Karnatukul. He also named Billycan Spring. He married Daisy, an Aboriginal woman, and had sons Talbot and Kado.[3]
Muir is aNgaliatraditional owner,[2] holder of cultural knowledge and of theMantjiltjara language, and of the country to the northwest ofLeonora.[4] He is an applicant on theMantjintjarra Ngalia peoplesnative title claim in theGoldfields region.[5]
He is a fierce advocate for the rights ofIndigenous Australians inland rights,[6] protecting heritage,[7] and recognising the value of traditional knowledge[8][9] and cultural expression, and has researched and published on Australian Aboriginal heritage and native title.[5][10]
In July 2021 told the UNExpert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), in a meeting presided over by current chairMegan Davis, that theAustralian Government had not been doing enough to protect Aboriginal heritage, and that the draft Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill (which would supersede WA'sAboriginal Heritage Act 1972 still allowed the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs to override the wishes of traditional owners.[11] He has written several articles about the destruction ofJuukan Gorge forThe Conversation.[12]
Muir is an accomplishedvisual artist, specialising inprintmaking,[13] and also works oncanvas.[4]
In 2018, together with his wife Deeva, Muir painted a mural calledReti on the wall ofKalgoorlie Police Station. Reti (English nameEmpress Springs) is a significant cultural site inGreat Victoria Desert, and is situated on land subject to a native title claim.[14]
In 2022 he has led workshops to make rugs made ofrecycled fabric for a cross-cultural art project calledReclaim the Void, created by Ngalia elders and others under the direction of Muir and Vivienne Robertson. The rugs will be joined, creating a hugetextile artwork depicting the story of theTjukurrpa of the country where gold mines have been dug, and intended to comment on both thedesecration of the land and theover-consumption of society. The work will be displayed in theWestern Australian Museum.[15][16]
He was chairperson of the Tjupan Ngalia Tribal Land Council (anAboriginal corporation) around or before 2008,[8] and as of July 2022[update] is chair of theNational Native Title Council, co-chair of theFirst National Heritage Protection Alliance and a member of thesteering committee of theFirst Nations Clean Energy Network.[4]
As of 2021[update] he is a director of the Wakamurru Aboriginal Corporation, which represents Manta Rirrtinya Native Title Holders.[11]
He is also an advocate ofbilingual and "two-way" education in Australia.[2]
Muir stood as a candidate for theGreens at the2004 and2010 federal elections and the2005 and2013 state elections. In 2016, he was selected as theWA Nationals' lead senate candidate at the2016 federal election.[17][18] His bid was unsuccessful, the Nationals having been overtaken byPauline Hanson's One Nation.[19]
Muir is married to artist Deeva Muir, who was born in Malaysia and has aSri Lankan Tamil background.[20] Their eldest son Karthi is an actor who trained at theWestern Australian Academy of Performing Arts; his younger brother Kuberan is an artist, as of 2019 in his second year of a degree in photography atCurtin University; and younger sister Ammbigai is also a visual artist.[21]
ACMC [Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee] Member - Specialist Anthropologist