List of Indigenous Australian historical figures
Encyclopedia
Some Indigenous Australians
are remembered in history for leadership prior to European colonisation, some for their resistance to that colonisation, others for assisting Europeans explore the country. Some became infamous for their deeds, and others noted as the last of their communities.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
are remembered in history for leadership prior to European colonisation, some for their resistance to that colonisation, others for assisting Europeans explore the country. Some became infamous for their deeds, and others noted as the last of their communities.
Prior to 1788
- Cumbo Gunnerah 18th century leader of the KamilaroiKamilaroiThe Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
people near Gunnedah, New South WalesGunnedah, New South WalesGunnedah is a town and Local government area in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. 7,542 people lived in the town of Gunnedah in 2006, including 931 indigenous people ....
.
1788-1888
- William BarakWilliam BarakWilliam Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...
(1824–1903) - ngurungaetaNgurungaetaNgurungaeta is a Wurundjeri word meaning 'head man' or 'tribal leader'. Ngurungaeta held the same tribal standing as an Arweet of the Bunurong and Wathaurong people...
of WurundjeriWurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
, police tracker, then artist - BennelongBennelongWoollarawarre Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia, in 1788...
- Representative of the EoraEoraThe Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
People at the time Port JacksonPort JacksonPort Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
was settled. - BillibellaryBillibellaryBillibellary 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...
(1799–1846) - ngurungaetaNgurungaetaNgurungaeta is a Wurundjeri word meaning 'head man' or 'tribal leader'. Ngurungaeta held the same tribal standing as an Arweet of the Bunurong and Wathaurong people...
of the WurundjeriWurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
-willam clan - CalyuteCalyuteCalyute also known as Kalyute, Galyute or Wongir, was an Indigenous Australian resistance leader who was involved in a number of battles with white settlers and members of other tribes in the early days of the Swan River Colony, in Western Australia. He was a member of the Pindjarup people from...
- Leader of the PindjarupPindjarupThe Binjareb, Pindjarup or Pinjareb is the name of the Indigenous Australian group of Noongar speakers, living in the region of Southwest, Western Australia between Port Kennedy on the coast, between Rockingham and Mandurah to Australind on the Leschenault Inlet, and between a point between Byford...
people at the time of the Battle of PinjarraBattle of PinjarraThe Battle of Pinjarra or Pinjarra Massacre was a conflict that occurred in Pinjarra, Western Australia between a group of 60 to 80 Australian Aborigines and a detachment of 25 soldiers and policemen led by Governor James Stirling in 1834... - DerrimutDerrimut (Indigenous Australian)Derrimut , was a headman or arweet of the Boonwurrung people from the Melbourne area of Australia....
- BunurongBunurongThe Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...
elder during European settlement of MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... - Jackey JackeyJackey JackeyWilliam Westwood was often referred to as a "gentleman bushranger" because of his dress and respect for his victims. He got the name 'Jackey Jackey' from the aboriginal people...
, assisted Edmund KennedyEdmund KennedyEdmund Besley Court Kennedy was an explorer in Australia in the mid nineteenth century. He was the Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales, working with Sir Thomas Mitchell...
expedition into Cape York and awarded solid silver breastplate for heroic deeds. - JandamarraJandamarraJandamarra or Tjandamurra , also known as "Pigeon", was an Indigenous Australian of the Bunuba people who led one of the few organised armed insurrections documented against European settlement in Australia.- Background :...
, a Bunuba man who resisted European occupation - William LanneWilliam LanneWilliam Lanne was a Tasmanian Aborigine. He is most well known as the last full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian man....
- King Billy, last surviving male of the Oyster Cove clan of Tasmanian Aborigines - MannalargennaMannalargennaMannalargenna , a Tasmanian Aborigine, was the chief of the Ben Lomond tribe . His wife was Tanleboneyer and he had five known children, a son, Neerhepeererminer and daughters Woretermoeteyenner, Wottecowidyer, Wobbelty and Teekoolterme.Following the arrival of the Europeans in the area, he led a...
- Tasmanian Aborigine of the Plangermaireener people - MokareMokareMokare was a Noongar man, an Aboriginal man from the south-west corner of Australia who was pivotal in aiding European exploration of the area. Mokare had two known brothers: Mollian Mokare (c. 1800 - 26 June 1831) was a Noongar man, an Aboriginal man from the south-west corner of Australia who...
- NoongarNoongarThe Noongar are an indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast...
guide and peacemaker. - Johnny MullaghJohnny MullaghJohnny Mullagh , was part of the famous 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. He was a skilful all-rounder, being a right arm bowler and right-handed batsman....
- Aborigine cricketer who was known for his remarkable performance in the 1868 Aborigine cricket team's tour of England. - MusquitoMusquitoMusquito was an Indigenous Australian outlaw, or bushranger, based in Van Diemens Land. He was born in Sydney Cove and transported to Van Diemens Land for murdering his wife....
- Originally from Sydney, became a bushrangerBushrangerBushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
following transportation to TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart... - Tommy WindichTommy WindichTommy Windich was an Indigenous Australian member of a number of exploring expeditions in Western Australia in the 1860s and 1870s.Tommy Windich was born around 1840 near Mount Stirling in Western Australia...
-- Western Australian explorer - PemulwuyPemulwuyPemulwuy was an Aboriginal Australian man born around 1750 in the area of Botany Bay in New South Wales. He is noted for his resistance to the European settlement of Australia which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. He is believed to have been a member of the Bidjigal clan of...
-- Member of the EoraEoraThe Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
people (Botany Bay) area - Fanny Cochrane SmithFanny Cochrane SmithFanny Cochrane Smith, was a Tasmanian Aborigine, born in December 1834. She is considered to be the last fluent speaker of a Tasmanian language, and her wax cylinder recordings of songs are the only audio recordings of any of Tasmania's indigenous languages.-Life:Fanny Cochrane's mother and...
- First Tasmanian Aborigine born on Flinders IslandFlinders IslandFlinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island... - TruganiniTruganiniTrugernanner , often referred to as Truganini, was a woman widely considered to be the last "full blood" Palawa ....
-- last surviving full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine - Turandurey -- she and daughter Ballandella traveled with Major Mitchell, acting as interpreter
- TullamareenaTullamareenaTullamareena was a senior man of the Wurundjeri, a Koori, people of the Melbourne area, at the time of the British settlement in Victoria, Australia, in 1835. He is believed to be present at the signing of John Batman's land deal in 1835. He was known to be a resistor to British occupation of...
-- member of WirundgeriWurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
, Melbourne - Simon WongaSimon WongaSimon Wonga ngurungaeta and son of Billibellary, was an elder of the Wurundjeri indigenous people who lived in the Melbourne area of Australia.In 1840 Simon Wonga injured his foot in the Dandenongs...
(1824–1874) - ngurungaetaNgurungaetaNgurungaeta is a Wurundjeri word meaning 'head man' or 'tribal leader'. Ngurungaeta held the same tribal standing as an Arweet of the Bunurong and Wathaurong people...
of the WurundjeriWurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
people around MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
who secured land at CoranderrkCoranderrkCoranderrk was an Indigenous Australian mission station set up in 1863 to provide land under the policy of concentration, for Aboriginal people who had been dispossessed by the arrival of Europeans to the state of Victoria 30 years prior. The mission was formally closed in 1924 with most residents...
, and the suburb Wonga ParkWonga Park, VictoriaWonga Park a locality within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 29 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham...
was named after him - YaganYaganYagan was an Australian Aboriginal warrior from the Noongar tribe who played a key part in early indigenous Australian resistance to British settlement and rule in the area of Perth, Western Australia. After he led a series of burglaries and robberies across the countryside, in which white...
-- Western Australian leader in 1830s - Yarri -- who saved many people in the 1852 floods at Gundagai, New South Wales
- WylieWylie (person)Wylie was an indigenous Australian originally from the tribes around Albany in Western Australia. He accompanied Edward John Eyre to Adelaide by sea in May 1840, and would have left with Eyre on his expedition to penetrate to the interior in June of the same year, but Wylie was ill...
-- Aboriginal guide who stayed with Edward John EyreEdward John EyreEdward John Eyre was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica....
in their crossing of the Nullabor
1888 onwards
- NemarlukNemarlukNemarluk was a fierce warrior who lived around present-day Darwin in the Northern Territory. He fought strongly against both white and Japanese intruders who had come, unasked, into his people's tribal lands....
- leader of the Chul-a-mar, who fought European and Japanese around Darwin in the early 20th century - UmbarraUmbarraUmbarra, or King Merriman was an Aboriginal elder of the Djirringanj/Yuin people of the Bermagui area on the South Coast of New South Wales....
(King Merriman) - late 19th century elder of the YuinYuinYuin people are those Australian Aborigines from the South Coast of New South wales who are considered to be the traditional owners of the land and water from Merimbula to Port Jackson.- Country :...
around Bermagui, New South WalesBermagui, New South WalesBermagui is a town on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley Shire. The name is derived from the Dyirringanj word, permageua, possibly meaning 'canoe with paddles'....