Bill Harney baking damper at Red Lily Lagoon (Inagurdurwil), Arnhem Land, during the American Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Pictured with another member of the Expedition, possibly Frederick McCarthy.

Bushman W. E. (Bill) Harney worked in the Northern Territory as a Patrol Officer and Protector of Aborigines between 1940 and 1947. He held a variety of jobs throughout his life, often working closely with Aboriginal people, and he wrote widely about Aboriginal culture, and bush lore.

Harney joined the Expedition as a guide in Yirrkala and travelled with them to the camp at Oenpelli.

Wrote Mountford,

"Harney's knowledge of Arnhem Land, especially of the Gulf of Carpentaria, is extensive; of the aboriginal people, deep and understanding; and of the fauna and flora, considerable. As a story-teller and singer, Harney entertained us, individually and collectively, for hours with his tales of cattle thieves, droving and journeys with the aborigines."

Harney, W. E. (William Edward), 1895-1962

American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, (1948). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land, Melbourne : Melbourne University Press, 1956-1964

Lamshed, Max. 'Monty' : the biography of C.P. Mountford, Adelaide : Rigby, 1972

Harney, W. E. A bushman's life : an autobiography, Ringwood, Vic. : Viking O'Neil, 1990

May, Sally K. Collecting cultures : myth, politics, and collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition, Lanham, Md. : AltaMira Press, 2010

National Geographic Magazine, vol. 96, no. 6, 1949, pp. 745-782, 'Exploring Stone-age Arnhem Land' by Charles P. Mountford.

Simpson, Colin, Adam in ochre : inside Aboriginal Australia, 5th ed, Sydney : Angus & Robertson, 1962