List of Indigenous Australian historical figures

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Some Indigenous Australians are remembered in history for their leadership during the British invasion and colonisation, some for their resistance to that colonisation, and others for assisting the Europeans in exploring the country. Some became infamous for their deeds, and others noted as the last of their communities. During the 20th century, some Indigenous Australians came to prominence to make significant contributions to Aboriginal human rights, land rights, to the armed services and to parliamentary representation.

Contents

Prior to 1788

1788–1888

1888 onwards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wurundjeri</span> Aboriginal people who inhabited the Melbourne area before colonisation

The Wurundjeripeople are an Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of Melbourne. They continue to live in this area and throughout Australia. They were called the Yarra tribe by early European colonists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truganini</span> Aboriginal Tasmanian woman (c. 1812–1876)

Truganini, also known as Lalla Rookh and Lydgugee, was a woman famous for being widely described as the last "full-blooded" Aboriginal Tasmanian to survive British colonisation. Although she was one of the last speakers of the Indigenous Tasmanian languages, Truganini was not the last Aboriginal Tasmanian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Batman</span> Australian settler and explorer

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemulwuy</span> Aboriginal Australian political leader (c. 1750 – c. 1802)

Pemulwuy was a Bidjigal warrior of the Dharug, an Aboriginal Australian people from New South Wales. One of the most famous Aboriginal resistance fighters in the colonial era, he is noted for his resistance to European colonisation which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in January 1788.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Barak</span> 19th century Aboriginal Australian leader

William Barak, named Beruk by his parents, the "last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe", was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, the pre-colonial inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batman's Treaty</span> 1835 treaty between John Batman and Aboriginal Australians

Batman's Treaty was an agreement between John Batman, an Australian grazier, businessman and coloniser, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne. The document came to be known as Batman's Treaty and is considered significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the traditional owners. The treaty was implicitly declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dharug language</span> Australian Aboriginal language of the Sydney area

The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in the region of Sydney, New South Wales, until it became extinct due to effects of colonisation. It is the traditional language of the Dharug people. The Dharug population has greatly diminished since the onset of colonisation. Eora language has sometimes been used to distinguish a coastal dialect from hinterland dialects, but there is no evidence that Aboriginal peoples ever used this term, which simply means "people". Some effort has been put into reviving a reconstructed form of the language.

The murnong or yam daisy is any of the plants Microseris walteri, Microseris lanceolata and Microseris scapigera, which are an important food source for many Aboriginal peoples in southern parts of Australia. Murnong is a Woiwurrung word for the plant, used by the Wurundjeri people and possibly other clans of the Kulin nation. They are called by a variety of names in the many different Aboriginal Australian languages, and occur in many oral traditions as part of Dreamtime stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musquito</span> Indigenous Australian bushranger and resistance leader

Musquito was an Indigenous Australian resistance leader, convict hunter and outlaw based firstly in the Sydney region of the British colony of New South Wales and later in Van Diemen's Land.

Barangaroo was a member of the Cammeraygal clan of Aboriginal Australians during the early period of the British colonisation of Australia. She is most well known as being the second wife of Bennelong, who was a pioneering interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British military establishment in New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidjigal</span> Aboriginal Australian people

The Bidjigal people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The land includes the Bidjigal Reserve, Salt Pan Creek and the Georges River. They are part of the Dharug language group, and there is debate as to whether the clan is part of the Dharug or Eora people.

Billibellary was a song maker and influential ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan during the early years of European settlement of Melbourne. He was known by various names including Billi-billeri, Billibellary, Jika Jika, Jacky Jacky and Jaga Jaga. He was an astute and diplomatic leader, described as powerfully built with an influence and reputation that extended well beyond his clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian frontier wars</span> 1788–1934 conflicts between settlers and Indigenous Australians

The Australian frontier wars were the violent conflicts between Indigenous Australians and primarily British settlers during the colonial period of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunnerminnerwait</span> Aboriginal Australian leader and resistance fighter in Tasmania (c.1812–1842)

Tunnerminnerwait (c.1812–1842) was an Australian Aboriginal resistance fighter and Parperloihener clansman from Tasmania. He was also known by several other names including Pevay, Jack of Cape Grim, Tunninerpareway and renamed Jack Napoleon Tarraparrura by George Robinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous Australian literature</span> Literature produced by Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australian literature is the fiction, plays, poems, essays and other works authored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Army in Australia</span>

From the late 1700s until the end of the 19th century, the British Empire established, expanded and maintained a number of colonies on the continent of Australia. These colonies included New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. Many of these were initially formed as penal settlements, and all were built on land occupied by Indigenous Australians. In order to keep the large number of transported convicts under control, enforce colonial law and fight the Australian frontier wars, British military elements, including the British Army, were deployed and garrisoned in Australia. From 1790 to 1870 over 30 different regiments of the British Army consisting of a combined total of around 20,000 soldiers were based in the Australian British colonies.

Colebee was a Boorooberongal man of the Dharug people, an Aboriginal Australian people from present-day New South Wales. Colebee and fellow Dharug man Nurragingy received land grants in recognition of their assistance in guiding British military forces in punitive expeditions against insurgent Gandangara and Darkinjung people in 1816.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turandurey</span> Wiradjuri guide and interpreter

Turandurey was a Wiradjuri woman from the Lachlan River area in central New South Wales near where the town of Hillston is now located. Turandurey is noted for her work as a guide and interpreter to the explorer Thomas Mitchell, while at the same time caring for her daughter Ballandella.

Cannabaygal, also known as Cannabayagal, Conibigal, Carnimbeigle or Kannabygle, was a warrior of the Gandangara people during the early stages of British colonisation of the Camden region in New South Wales. He was considered as one of the main leaders of local resistance to British occupation in the latter stages of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars. He was killed in the Appin massacre during a campaign by James Wallis in 1816 to subjugate the Gandangara people. His corpse was gibbeted in a tree and later beheaded, with his skull being sent to Scotland for anatomical study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Towterer</span> Aboriginal Tasmanian leader

Towterer was a leading Aboriginal Tasmanian man of the Ninine clan from south-western Tasmania. He was part of the last group of Ninine to continue living a traditional lifestyle on the Tasmanian mainland before their forced transportation to the Wybalenna Aboriginal Establishment on Flinders Island in 1833. One of his daughters was Mathinna who was sent to live with Sir John Franklin and Lady Jane Franklin.

References

  1. "BRAVE ABORIGINAL GIRL". Eastern Districts Chronicle. Vol. XXXVII, no. 9. Western Australia. 27 February 1914. p. 7. Retrieved 8 November 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  2. "AN ABORIGINAL S BRAVERY". The Evening Star . Vol. 13, no. 3996. Western Australia. 8 March 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2017 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "THE ROPER RIVER". The Evening Star . Vol. 15, no. 4356. Western Australia. 8 May 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 8 November 2017 via National Library of Australia.