David Unaipon, Hidden Hero of History

A story of big ideas and bold curiosity! David Unaipon was an Aboriginal Australian inventor, author, preacher, and lifelong learner who never stopped asking “what if?” His invention of mechanical sheep shears helped farmers go from shearing 30 to 300 sheep a day. It was life-changing! He used scientific thinking and Aboriginal knowledge to create solutions far ahead of his time, including concepts for rotary-wing flight before helicopters existed. David traveled across Australia, sharing ideas about science, storytelling, and culture, inspiring people wherever he went. Today, he appears on Australia’s 50-dollar note, a tribute to his brilliant mind and never-give-up spirit.

Go to the episode webpage: https://jonincharacter.com/david-unaipon/   

DOWNLOAD COLOR PAGE: https://bit.ly/dorktales129colorpages          

FREE ACTIVITY GUIDE on David Unaipon: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/ep129freePDF 

If you enjoyed this story about David Unaipon, you may also enjoy learning about the agricultural inventor, George Washington Carver: https://jonincharacter.com/george-washington-carver/ 

CREDITS: Hidden Heroes of History is a Jonincharacter production. Today’s story was written by Rebecca Cunningham, directed and produced by Molly Murphy and performed by Jonathan Cormur and Sophie. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks.

Sign up for FREE access to our Dorktales Resource Library stocked with color pages, activity guides, conversation starter PDFs, printables and more: https://dorktalesstorytime.aweb.page/Dorktales-Library-Card

Transcript

Little Bo's Barber Shop and Beauty Salon

Jonathan 0:31

Hello, Dork Squad. I'm Jonathan Cormur, and you're listening to DorkTale Storytime, the podcast for kids and their pop culture loving grown-ups. And this is an inspiring story about a hidden hero of history. Shout out to Cady from Australia, who wrote me a letter and introduced us to this amazing hero.

Theme Song 0:52

It's a beautiful day for a story, adventure, and glory, new friends and old ones too. It's an excellent day to get swept away in a tale, so let us regale you! 

Little Bo 1:24

Oh, Jonathan! Redge, you're here.

Jonathan 1:29

Yes, here we are. Hi, little Bo.

Little Bo 1:33

And you're here because

Jonathan 1:37

Oh, you mentioned you'd give me a haircut. I just need a trim.

Little Bo 1:42

Oh yeah, I totally did not forget that because I totally did not lose my appointment book.

Redge 1:49

That wasn't the most convincing statement I've ever heard.

Little Bo 1:53

Oh, that's my phone ringing. Uh any chance one of y'all see my phone?

Jonathan 2:00

Um, judging by where the sound is coming from, I think Mrs. Ellie Phant might be sitting on it.

Redge 2:06

I'll get it. Excuse me, Mrs. Pant. Little Bo's barber shop and beauty salon, where we serve looks of sheer perfection. This is Reginald T. Hedgehog speaking. How may I help you?

Jonathan 2:20

Oh, so professional, Redge.

Redge 2:23

Oh I know, right? Uh mm-hmm. You want to say at three o'clock? All of the sheep? All right, don't get your wool jumper in a twist. They will be ready for you at three PM sharp. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Three bags full. Bye-bye now.

Little Bo 2:46

Oh no. Tell me that wasn't the little boy who lives down the lane.

Redge 2:50

Well, I'm afraid it was, Little Bo. He said he needs all ten of his sheep sheared in time for Once Upon a Time Land's annual knitting contest. Three o'clock sharp.

Little Bo 3:03

Well, I know, but the thing is, well, I can't find my sheep shears. And look at all these sheep.

Jonathan 3:13

Oh, wa wa wa wait one second. Um Mrs. Ellie Phant, could you uh scooch over just a bit? Aha! Here they are. A box labeled sheep shears.

Little Bo 3:29

Also, totally sorry about that, Mrs. Fant. That must have been real uncomfy. Still, there are so many sheep here. I'd count 'em, but I think I'd start falling asleep.

Jonathan 3:41

Hey, don't worry, Bo. We can help.

Little Bo 3:44

Oh, you can?

David Unaipon, Hidden Hero of History

Redge 3:46

We would love to. I've always wanted to try.

Little Bo 3:50

Oh, thank you, thank you. Grab a shear, grab a sheep, and let's start filling these bags, boys.

Redge 3:57

On it. Uh hello? Uh Ba Ba Black Sheep. Have you any wool? Oh yes, quite. Uh, here I go. Oh, this is easier than I thought.

Jonathan 4:12

Y eah, it's like these shears know exactly what to do.

Redge 4:16

They practically do the job for you. 

Jonathan 4:20

You know, this reminds me of something. Or someone.

Redge 4:25

Oh, is it that time, Jonathan?

Little Bo 4:28

What time? Oh my goodness, is it three o'clock already? Well, I really shouldn't have lost my watch.

Jonathan 4:35

Oh no, no, little bo. It's time for a Hidden Heroes of History story.

Redge 4:41

Jonathan likes to tell stories about inspiring people from his world.

Little Bo 4:46

Oh well, that sounds fun. But don't stop shearin.

Jonathan 4:52

Aye aye, Captain. Today's story is about David Unaipon. David was an author, a poet, a preacher, and most famously, an inventor. He is known as Australia's Leonardo da Vinci.

Redge 5:07

An inventor, just like Lanny Smoot. Oh, Jonathan told his story once. It was magical.

David Unaipon's Early Days

Jonathan 5:15

Yeah, just like Lanny. And like Lanny, he had a lot of patents. Nineteen to be exact.

Little Bo 5:22

What's a patent? Whoops. Uh sorry, Mary Hadda. You wanted a faux hawk, right?

Redge 5:33

Oh, let me tell her what a patent is.

Jonathan 5:36

Go for it, Redge.

Redge 5:38

A patent is a special certificate that says no one else can use or sell the invention you created.

Little Bo 5:46

Oh, got it. Okay, go on. Whoop, and keep those shears moving, people. 

Jonathan 5:51

Let me back up to the beginning. David Unaipon was born September 28, 1872, at the Point Maclay mission in a country called Australia.

Redge 6:03

He was born on a mission.

Jonathan 6:05

No, not like a secret spy mission. A mission, in this instance, is a place where Christian people try to teach others about their religion.

Redge 6:13

Hmm, I see.

Jonathan 6:15

David and his family were Aboriginal Australians, the very first group of people to live in Australia. His ancestors had been there for tens of thousands of years.

Little Bo 6:27

Whoa, I wonder if my family goes that far back in Once Upon a Time land.

Jonathan 6:33

Maybe. About 100 years before David was born, European settlers started to arrive in Australia, and by the time he was born, the settlers had spread across the country, often taking the land away from the Aboriginal Australians and pressuring them to learn European customs and beliefs.

Redge 6:52

Now why would they do that?

Jonathan 6:54

Well, sometimes when one group of people is seeking power and control, they feel like they have to treat another group of people very unfairly.

Redge 7:04

That's just not right.

Jonathan 7:06

I agree, Redge. There's nothing good about treating people unfairly. David's father, James, changed his last name to Unipon to make it easier for the European settlers to pronounce. He also changed his religion to Christianity, which was then seen as a European religion.

Little Bo 7:24

But did he even want to do that?

Jonathan 7:27

There is no way to know for sure, but we know that he loved his new religion so much that he became a preacher. A preacher is someone who talks to people about their religion and helps them learn how to follow it. But while he loved his new religion, he still loved his aboriginal culture. He would tell Bible stories to the kids alongside Aboriginal stories.

Redge 7:49

Ooh, so the kids got double story time. I want double story time, Jonathan.

Little Bo 7:55

Ooh, double story time.

Jonathan 7:58

I think we only have time for one story today.

Little Bo 8:02

Oh, right. We'll keep shearing.

Redge 8:05

Just keep shearing, just keep shearing, just keep shearing, shearing, shearing.

Jonathan 8:11

Right. So James, his dad, passed both his love of Christianity and a pride in Aboriginal culture on to his own nine children.

Little Bo 8:21

Nine children. Well my word.

Jonathan 8:25

David was number four. He was also curious, exceptionally smart, and loved to learn. He was obsessed with reading, especially books about science. He went to school on the mission from seven to thirteen years old.

Redge 8:41

Does that mean he stopped going to school at thirteen? Well, that seems awfully young.

Little Bo 8:46

Did he get lost on his way to school?

Jonathan 8:53

No, that wasn't quite what happened to David. When he turned thirteen, David was sent away to be a servant in another part of Australia called Adelaide.

Little Bo 9:04

A servant? At thirteen?

Jonathan 9:07

I can't imagine David wanted to be a servant, especially because it took him away from school. But he was able to continue to pursue his love for learning. While he was there, he studied philosophy, literature, music, and science. And he spoke four languages Yaraldi, Latin, Greek, and English.

Redge 9:30

Mmm, a well-rounded chap, quite like myself.

David Unaipon the Inventor

Jonathan 9:33

When David turned 18, he returned to the mission where he learned how to make boots and played the organ at the church. However, there weren't many job opportunities for Aboriginal men in the area. It was a time when indigenous people were segregated, or separated from white people. They were discriminated against, and many people wouldn't hire them for work. So he moved back to Adelaide, where he found a job at a bootmaker's shop.

Redge 10:01

And then he made his own fashion bootline and became a boot bajillionaire. Ha! Show them meanies.

Little Bo 10:10

No, remember, he was an author, poet, preacher, and inventor. Whoa! Well look at me remembering something.

Jonathan 10:21

Well done, Bo. The boot shop was just a stop along the way of David's achievements. 

Redge 10:27

Ooh, the plot thickens. As a grown-up, he began to study subjects like mechanics, and would conduct experiments on things like ballistics.

Little Bo 10:37

Ballistics?

Jonathan 10:39

That's the science of how things move when they are shot or thrown into the air.

Little Bo 10:43

Like sheep being shot through the air by a giant slingshot? Well, hypothetically speaking.

Jonathan 10:54

I mean, technically, yes, though I wouldn't recommend it. He was also fascinated with perpetual motion, which is the idea that a machine could be invented that runs forever without ever stopping.

Redge 11:07

Is that real?

Jonathan 11:09

No. Unfortunately, every attempt at perpetual motion has never worked, but that didn't stop David from trying. He studied it his whole life. And while he did that, he invented some important things, including sheep shears.

Little Bo 11:24

Hold up. Sheep shears? You mean these things we're holding in our hands?

Jonathan 11:30

Yep, invented by David Unaipon. In the early 1800s, people used to use blade shears to remove the wool from sheep. They were like these giant scissors, and it took forever.

Redge 11:43

If we had to use giant scissors, we'd never be done by 3 p.m.

Jonathan 11:48

Definitely not. It would take a whole day to shear thirty sheep. Now, farmers and beauty salon owners can shear 300 sheep in a day.

Redge 12:01

I will not be doing that. I've had enough sheep shearing for a lifetime, thank you.

Jonathan 12:08

Fair enough. But you can see how he helped create a very important industry with this invention.

Redge 12:15

Oh I certainly can.

Jonathan 12:17

David also predicted the invention of the helicopter.

Little Bo 12:21

Get out of town!

Redge 12:23

I will not get out of town, little bo. I live here too, you know.

Jonathan 12:27

Oh, it's an expression, Redge.

Redge 12:30

Oh. Go on.

David Unaipon the Writer and Storyteller

Jonathan 12:33

David thought of the idea for a helicopter by using both Western science as well as the science behind a boomerang. That's a curved piece of wood invented by Aboriginal Australians thousands of years ago. When you throw a boomerang, it spins through the air and comes right back to you.

Redge 12:51

Could you also do that with a sheep?

Sheep 12:53

Bah.

Jonathan 12:55

You both know sheep are never meant to be thrown, right?

Redge and Little Bo 12:58

Hypothetically.

Jonathan 13:01

Anyway, my point is, David used his love of science and his deep understanding of Aboriginal culture in his inventions.

Little Bo 13:09

Both sides of his life made him a well-rounded chap, as Redge likes to say. 

Jonathan 13:15

Precisely. And beyond that, he was an excellent writer. He was the first Aboriginal writer to be published in newspapers.

Redge 13:23

Extra, extra, read all about it! David Unaipon, one heck of a guy.

Jonathan 13:30

And it doesn't end there. Remember how his dad told him Aboriginal stories as a kid?

Little Bo 13:36

I actually do remember that. Look at me remembering something else.

Jonathan 13:41

David wanted to collect those stories and put them in a book. Sort of like what the Grimm brothers did with European fairy tales. So he traveled all over Australia, talking with Aboriginal people about different myths and legends. Those stories became the book Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines.

Redge 14:04

Ooh, I want to read that. I'll have to find a copy. The sad part of the story is that a man named William Ramsey Smith bought the rights to the book and published it under his own name.

Little Bo 14:16

And left David's name off of it?

Jonathan 14:19

Yep.

Redge 14:20

What a terrible thing to do.

Jonathan 14:23

It was terrible. But that's part of why I tell these stories. I want to talk about the people who have done extraordinary things and aren't always recognized for their work.

Honoring David Unaipon's Legacy

Little Bo 14:35

Well, I'll certainly recognize David, and I'll tell my friends about him if I can find my friends.

Jonathan 14:48

David was an excellent speaker. He gave many public lectures and demonstrations about science, literature, and aboriginal culture. When he was 80, he received a coronation medal from Queen Elizabeth II. And to this day, David is now featured on Australia's $50 Note. 

Little Bo 15:11

What an honor!

Ways to Contact Us

Jonathan 15:13

Truly, David led an extraordinary life despite the injustice he faced as an Aboriginal man.

Redge 15:19

Here here.

Little Bo 15:21

Well, great story, Jonathan. Oh, it's three o'clock. And that's our last sheep shared. The little boy down the lane will be here any second. Thank goodness for sheep shares.

Redge 15:35

And thank goodness for David Unaipon.

Jonathan 15:38

Time for my haircut.

Little Bo 15:40

Oh, right. Uh anybody see my clippers? 

Jonathan 15:47

This has been a Jon in character production. This Hidden Hero of History story was written by Rebecca Cunningham and edited and produced by Molly Murphy. Little Bo was performed by Sophie, who you can find streaming on twitch.tv forward slash S0PH. All other characters were performed by Jonathan Cormur. Sound recording and production by Jermaine Hamilton at Pacific Grove Soundworks. We love hearing from you. Contact us at dorktalestorytime at gmail.com or try our one-way text feature as a safe way to reach out. You can find even more ways to reach us in the show notes. Now, go be the hero of your own story, and we'll see you next once upon a time.

Theme Song 16:37

So gather squad.