Biography

1967 · Christmas Creek Station, Wangkatjungka, Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia

August 11, 2019 · Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, UK (asthma attack)

Ningali Lawford-Wolf died in Edinburgh, Scotland, after falling ill while on tour with a production of "The Secret River" at the Edinburgh International Festival.

She was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to Indigenous performing arts.

Born under a tree at Christmas Creek Station of Wangkatjungka descent in Fitzroy Crossing, Kimberley, Western Australia, Ningali Lawford's family had worked on and managed Kimberley Stations for generations. She trained as a dancer at the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre, then joined the Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney. She was a director of the Indigenous-owned Kimberley Agriculture and Pastoral Company, which took control of more than 700,000 hectares of cattle country in 2019 before Lawford's death.