Bill Harney

DOB: c. 1936
Born: Willeroo Station

About Artist:
Yidumduma Bill Harney of the Wardaman people was born on Willeroo Station around 1936. He is an accomplished artist, storyteller, and maker of didgeridoos. His father, W.E. Harney, was an Anglo-Australian writer and storyteller noted for his exploits in the Northern Territory. His mother, Ludi Yibuluyma (Wardaman), raised Bill with his Aboriginal stepfather, Joe Jomornji, during an era of Australian history when Aborigines faced assimilation policies imposed on them by the government as well as by private citizens.

As a child Bill Harney witnessed incidents of cattle station owners poisoning Aborigines and welfare officers forcibly removing Aboriginal children of mixed heritage from their parents. His sister, Dulcie, was one of the "Stolen Children". Occasionally parents would take ashes from the fire in attempt to darken the skin of children with lighter complexions, as Ludi did with Bill.

As a painter, Bill Harney is skilled in a number of techniques which bring to life the Dreamtime stories of the Wardaman Aboriginal people. Bill uses a mixture of acrylics and natural ochre in his paintings. The white ochre found on the Wardaman Aboriginal lands is very pure and considered to be excellent quality and was much traded with other Aboriginal Tribes. Bill paints on both canvas and bark.