Read the short blurb about some of the famous Aboriginal men and women during Australia's colonial period. Some of the people below were seen as threats to the early British settlers while other shared an unique shared relationship with the white Europeans.
Once you have read all the blurbs, your task is to choose one of the people below by clicking on their name. Then, using the relevant websites and resources to create a biography on your chosen person.
Once you have read all the blurbs, your task is to choose one of the people below by clicking on their name. Then, using the relevant websites and resources to create a biography on your chosen person.
In November 1789 Bennelong (1764?–1813), a member of the Wangal clan, and Colebee, a Cadigal man, was kidnapped while they were fishing at Manly Cove. Governor Arthur Phillip hoped that he would be able to learn the local Eora language and come to understand their culture and way of life.
He developed a close friendship with Phillip. Bennelong called Phillip 'Beanga', meaning father in the Eora language, and Phillip in return called him 'Durung', meaning son. He played an important role as a mediator between the Aboriginal clans and the colonists. (Source: http://www.myplace.edu.au/) |
Pemulwuy was an Aboriginal warrior from the Bidjigal clan of the Dharug nation, and a leader of the resistance movement to the south and west of Sydney Cove. These conflicts became known as the Hawkesbury and Napean wars.
Pemulwuy and his son, Tedbury, led raids on cattle stations, killing livestock and burning crops and buildings. The purpose of these raids was sometimes to obtain food, however they were often in retaliation for atrocities committed against Indigenous people, particularly the women. Pemulwuy survived two bullet wounds, but was eventually killed in June 1802 after being shot by two settlers. (Source: www.australianstogether.org.au) |
ARABANOO, an Aboriginal man of about thirty years old at the time, was captured in 1788 at the order of Governor Phillip. He did communicate much of Aboriginal custom and language to Governor Phillip but he became ill with small pox several months afterwards and died.
(Source: http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/) |
Yagan (c.1795-1833) was in his early 30s when the area on the western coast of Australia that became Perth was settled by British colonists in 1829. He befriended many of the early settlers and was well-known in the Perth district. The Perth Gazette published stories about him and George Fletcher Moore, a prominent early settler who described encounters with Yagan in his diaries.
After a number of clashes with settlers, over food and other resources, Yagan was declared an outlaw and forced to go into hiding. Tragically, on 11 July 1833, Yagan's friend William Keates shot and killed Yagan for a £30 reward - possibly because William needed money for his passage back to England. (Source: http://www.nma.gov.au/) Bilin Bilin's story is of a man and a community leader who had to confront a problem that no-one would choose to face – the occupation of his country. It is also the story of how some of his descendants today have found inspiration from his life and the way he dealt with the issues he had to confront.
Bilin Bilin, a Yugambeh man, was born about 1820 in south-east Queensland. By the time he died in 1901, the world of the Yugambeh had undergone a radical transformation through the occupation of their country by the British. They began moving into his country in the early 1800s. Surveyors, timber-getters and missionaries were some of the first arrivals. It was from a Pastor Haussmann at Bethesda Mission that Bilin Bilin learnt to read and write English. (Source: http://www.nma.gov.au/) |
Bungaree was a Kuringgai man, from the Broken Bay – West Head group known as the Carigal. In his own culture, Bungaree was a respected senior tribal man with a powerful physical presence and considerable abilities as a negotiator between black and white cultures.
He is best known for being the first Australian to circumnavigation of Australia in HMS Investigator with Matthew Flinders. Dressed in a succession of discarded military and naval uniforms and old cocked hats, Bungaree was a familiar sight on Sydney’s streets. People were charmed by his humour and gift of mimicry, especially his impressions of past and present colonial governors. Bungaree and his extended family spent their days fishing on the harbour or wandering the streets of Sydney town, and usually returned each night to the Kuringgai side of Sydney Harbour. On settling in close proximity to the fledgling colony of Sydney, Bungaree’s fame spread not only through New South Wales but also through nineteenth-century Europe, where stories of his character and activities were heard with interest. (Source: http://treasure-explorer.nla.gov.au/) Musquito (c. 1780 – 25 February 1825) was an Indigenous Australian outlaw, or bushranger, based in Van Diemen's Land. He was born in Sydney Cove and transported to Van Diemen's Land for murdering his wife.
After his release he turned to working as an Aboriginal tracker. Eventually, he fled to the bush and put together a gang of Aborigines who robbed and murdered white settlers and their farmhands. Eventually captured by an Aboriginal tracker named Tegg, Musquito was convicted of the murder of a Tahitian farm hand named Mammoa while stealing dogs from the Tahitian's employer. Musquito was sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out at Old Hobart Gaol on 25 February 1825. (Source: Wikipedia) |
Truganini was a woman widely considered to be the last full blood Aboriginal Tasmanian.
Fanny Balbuk (1840-1907) was a prominent Noongar woman, born during the early years of British settlement on Matagarup (Heirisson Island) along the Derbal Yaragan (Swan River) in Perth, Western Australia.
Balbuk provided information about Noongar culture and history to anthropologist Daisy Bates. Balbuk is renowned for protesting about the occupation of her traditional land around Perth. Windradyne was a significant leader of the Aboriginal resistance to white settlement in the Bathurst region of New South Wales. A reward of 500 acres was offered for Wyndradyne’s capture due to his involvement in incidents resulting in the death of several white settlers. However, Wyndradyne avoided capture, and was formally pardoned when he appeared at the Governor’s annual feast in an apparent move to negotiate.
He died on the 21st March 1829 due to wounds suffered during a tribal fight. (Source: www.australianstogether.org.au) |