Saltwater Fella

Years later, when I found my mother, I asked, ‘Why did you let me go?’
My mother told me, in a very soft voice, ‘My son, you were going to school. I took you to school every day ... then I went to pick you up this day and you were gone.’

John Moriarty was born to his Yanyuwa mother Kathleen Murrmayibinya and Irish father John Moriarty in Borroloola in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory. At the age of four, as part of assimilationist policies, he was stolen from his family and placed in a children’s home.

Saltwater Fella is Moriarty’s story of a childhood surviving harsh routines and poverty, hunger and racism in church institutions. It is about finding out who he is through his soccer skills and the start of a long career in advocacy for Aboriginal rights and self-determination.

Moriarty’s search for his place in the world takes him from his saltwater people to co-founding an internationally acclaimed Aboriginal design company that would put the stirringly beautiful Wunala Dreaming Qantas jet in the sky. Fired by the injustices around him, Moriarty made it his life’s mission to advocate for the rights of Aboriginal people, from the successful 1967 referendum for voting rights and citizenship, through to education and decent jobs. Through his tireless work in aiding others to find their voice, he discovered his own.

Saltwater Fella tells that story.

About the Author

John Moriarty is a saltwater Yanyuwa man, originally from Borroloola, NT. A member of the Stolen Generations, he has a lifelong commitment to advocacy for Aboriginal equality, reconciliation and cultural engagement.

A professional footballer in the 1950s, John was the first Aboriginal man to be selected to play for the Socceroos. He has formerly held executive positions in federal and state departments of Aboriginal Affairs.

Considered a national design treasure, in 1983, John co-founded Balarinji with Ros Moriarty, which has become Australia’s most highly awarded Indigenous design and strategy studio. In 2012 John and Ros co-founded Moriarty Foundation, a charity that is transforming the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

John is a recipient of the Order of Australia, the St Peters Citizenship Award, a UNESCO Achievement Award and the Advance Australia Award for Service to Industry and Commerce, among many other honours.