Bob is an elder of the Yankunytjatjara tribe, a listed traditional owner of Uluru (Ayers Rock, the largest rock formation in the world).

Born in 1934 in the Central Desert region of the Northern Territory, Australia, he was one of more than 100,000 Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their families between 1910 and 1970 to be re-educated and raised in the culture of the white man. The Aboriginal people call these children “The Stolen Generations”.

After the unhappy years of his youth he met and married Amy, a woman of the Amadjera tribe (she also was one of “The Stolen Generations”). In the mid 60’s he became a social worker and felt the desire to do something to protect the Aboriginal culture.

In 1970 Bob contributed to the creation of the Adelaide Community College for Aboriginal people and held the first conferences on Aboriginal culture there.

He was first recognized for his music in the early 1970’s when his song, “My Brown Skinned Baby – They Took Him Away” caught the attention of an ABC journalist who became interested in the case, which led to the creation of a ground breaking documentary of the same name, that won the Bronze Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, focusing local and international attention on “the Stolen Generations”. Bob appeared also in the documentaries “Buried Country” and “Secret Country”.

He works in many different ways for the Aboriginal communities. He was director of the North Australian Legal Aid Service and created centres for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and the University of Woolongong. He continues to present his programs of cultural awareness in schools, institutions and work-places.

His life and his efforts were recognized in 1999 when he was named “Indigenous Person of the Year” at the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Of Celebrations (NAIDOC).

In 2004 Bob was inducted in the Northern Territory Music Hall Of Fame for writing classical songs like “Brown Skin Baby” and “Red Sun Black Moon” (about the Coniston massacre). Bob has also written two books: his autobiography, “Songman” and a children’s book, “Tracker Tjginji” that participated at the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2004.