Daniel Wilfred

Daniel Wilfred is a Wägilak man from Ngukurr in south-east Arnhem Land, born in Nhulunbuy. He holds a ceremonial role among the Wägilak, singing manikay, the public song cycles that carry ancestral knowledge and connection to Country, and playing the bilma, or clapsticks, at ceremonies around Ngukurr, Numbulwar and Groote Eylandt. He learned from his Elders, among them the songman Roy Ashley, and he performs these songs together with his relatives David and Benjamin Wilfred for audiences in Australia and overseas.