Yankunytjatjara man Yami Lester OAM (1941–2017) was born at Walyatjata in the north of South Australia. As a youth he worked as a stockman, until he went blind as a result of the atomic bomb tests conducted by the British at Maralinga in the 1950s. After moving to Adelaide, he joined the Aboriginal Advancement League fighting to gain recognition of the human cost of the British nuclear tests. His campaign for the clean-up of Maralinga became his life's work and, along with the efforts of others, he was instrumental in bringing about the 1984 McClelland Royal Commission, which recommended group compensation for Maralinga's Tjarutja people and a clean-up of uranium-contaminated lands. Lester was also involved in the twenty-year fight to return Uluru to its traditional owners, the Anangu people. When Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen handed over the title deeds to the Anangu on 26 October 1985, Lester, the first chairman of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management, addressed the crowd who gathered for the ceremony. Lester's life is recounted in the autobiography Yami – shortlisted for the 1993 NSW Premier’s Prize – and also inspired Paul Kelly's 1987 song 'Maralinga (Rainy Land)'.
Gift of the artist 2005. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Juno Gemes/Copyright Agency, 2022
The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the
Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a
Reproduction request. For further information please contact
NPG Copyright.
