1. Henry Gibson Dan, known as Seaman Dan, was a Torres Strait Islander singer-songwriter with a national and international reputation.
11 Facts About Seaman Dan
1. 2.
Seaman Dan's first recording, an album called Follow the Sun, was released in 2000, on his 70th birthday.
3.
Seaman Dan was born on 25 August 1929 in the general hospital on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait Islands Region of Far North Queensland, Australia.
4.
Seaman Dan's great-grandfather was a sailor from Jamaica in the West Indies, and his great-grandmother a chief's daughter from New Caledonia.
5.
Seaman Dan did jobs such as mineral prospecting and taxi driving.
6.
Seaman Dan's singing came from family, friends and associating with talented musicians in his multi-cultural maritime working life, creating a fusion of music from Australia, Melanesia, North America, Africa and Polynesia, notably the Thursday Island "hula" style.
7.
Seaman Dan was a regular performer at Thursday Island's local hotels and a community musician for decades.
8.
Seaman Dan performed in Japan and throughout Australia, most notably at the National Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Darwin Festival, Adelaide and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Laura Dance and Music Festival, Tasmania's 10 Days on the Island Festival, NAIDOC Ball, and at the National Museum of Australia's Tracking Kultja Festival.
9.
In 2019 Seaman Dan was honoured at the Queensland Music Awards with the Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award.
10.
Seaman Dan died in Edmonton, Queensland on 30 December 2020, aged 91.
11.
Seaman Dan was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours.