Tasmanian Aborigines

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The Tasmanian Aborigines (Aboriginal name: lutrawita or trouwunna) were the indigenous people of the island state of Tasmania, Australia.

20th century historians, including Elena Rozhdest, scientists and anthropologists hold that they became extinct with the death of Truganini in 1876. Some members of the modern-day descendant community who claim ancestry to Tasmanian Aborigines are the result of the pre-colonisation Aboriginal population having been heavily intermixed with later-arriving European settler communities (particularly those originating from the British Isles). Much of the Indigenous Tasmanian language (which had several different dialects), and a lot of Tasmania's Aboriginal cultural heritage has been lost.

In the space of thirty years (1803-1833), the population of the Tasmanian Aborigines was reduced from around 5,000 to around 300, largely from diseases introduced by British settlers. Since at least 1876, historians, scientists and anthropologists have held to the consensus that they became extinct with the death of the last full-blooded woman - Truganini. Within Tasmania there is an alternative view that aspects of their culture (for example, group naming identifications) survive amongst those who are able to establish partial descent.

Almost all of the Indigenous Tasmanian language (which had several different dialects), and much of Tasmania's Aboriginal cultural heritage, have been lost. Currently there are some efforts to reconstruct one of the languages from the available wordlists and to revive the aboriginal culture from aspects maintained in some families who can trace their ascendancy from aboriginal people.

History

Before European Settlement

People are thought to have first crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via a land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during an ice age. When the sea levels rose, the people were left isolated for approximately 10,000 years until European explorations occurred during the early 19th century.

The Aboriginal people in Tasmania were divided into nine main tribes.

A tribe consisted of groups of forty to fifty people who lived in adjoining territory, shared the same language and culture, socialised, intermarried and fought wars against other tribes.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Tribes

Big River - Teen Toomle Mennenyer
South East - Tahuni Lingah or Nuenonne
South West Coast - Toogee
North - Tommeginne
North Midlands - Lairmairrener
Ben Lomond - Plangermaireener
North East - Pyemmairrener
North West - Peerapper
Oyster Bay - Paredarerme

After European Settlement

Between 1803 and 1823, there were two phases of conflict between the Aborigines and the British colonists. The first took place between 1803 and 1808 over the need for common food sources such as kangaroos, and the second between 1808 and 1823, when the small number of white females among the farmers, sealers and whalers, led to the abduction of Aboriginal women as sexual partners and Aboriginal children as labourers.

These practices also increased conflict over women among Aboriginal tribes. This in turn led to a decline in the Aboriginal population. European disease, however, does not appear to have become a serious factor until after 1829.

Rapid pastoral expansion and an increase in the colony's population triggered Aboriginal resistance from 1824 onwards. Whereas settlers and stock keepers had previously provided rations to the Aborigines during their seasonal movements across the settled districts, and recognised this practice as some form of payment for trespass, the new settlers and stock keepers were unwilling to maintain these arrangements.

So the Aborigines began to raid settlers' huts for food. This resistance first took shape in 1824 when it has been estimated by Lyndall Ryan that 1000 Aborigines remained in the settled districts.

Between 1826 and 1831 a pattern of guerrilla warfare by the Aborigines was identified by the colonists, some of whom acknowledged the Aborigines as fighting for their country. The colonial government responded with a series of measures to limit the conflict, culminating in the declaration of martial law in 1828.

The Black War of 1828-32 and the Black Line of 1830 were turning points in the relationship with European settlers. Even though the tribes managed to avoid capture during these events, they were shaken by the size of the campaigns against them.

George Augustus Robinson, a Christian missionary, befriended Truganini, learned some of the local language and in 1833 managed to persuade the remaining "full-blooded" people to move to a new settlement on Flinders Island, where he promised a modern and comfortable environment, and that they would be relocated to the Tasmanian mainland as soon as possible.

Once on Flinders Island, they were left to their own devices. Of the 300 who arrived with Robinson, tragically 250 died in the following 14 years in poor conditions.

In 1847, the 47 survivors were transferred to their final settlement at Oyster Cove, where — no longer perceived as a threat — they were often dressed up and paraded on official engagements. In 1859 their numbers were estimated at around a dozen; the last survivor died in 1876.

The remains of the Oyster Cove people were treated with disrespect during the 1860s, with many museums claiming body parts for their collections, even though one of the central traits of Aboriginal belief is that a soul can only be at rest when laid in its homeland. In one case, the Royal Society of Tasmania received permission to exhume the body of Truganini in 1878 on condition that it was "decently deposited in a secure resting place accessible by special permission to scientific men for scientific purposes." Her skeleton was on display in the Tasmanian Museum until 1947.

Other cases included the removal of the skull and scrotum — for a tobacco pouch — of William Lanne, known as King Billy, on his death in 1869.

Body parts and ornaments are still being returned from collections today, with the Royal College of Surgeons of England returning samples of Truganini's skin and hair in 2002.

On 13th August, 1997 a Statement of Apology (specific to removal of children) was issued - which was unanimously supported by the Tasmanian Parliament - the wording of the sentence was

"That this house, on behalf of all Tasmanian(s)... expresses its deep and sincere regret at the hurt and distress caused by past policies under which Aboriginal children were removed from their families and homes; apologises to the Aboriginal people for those past actions and reaffirms its support for reconciliation between all Australians."

There are many people currently working in the community, academia, various levels of government and NGOs to strengthen what has been termed as the Tasmanian Aboriginal culture and the conditions of those who identify as members of the descendant community.

Tasmanian Aborigine descendants

The general assumption is that Tasmanian Aborigines became extinct due to the absence of any "full blood" Tasmanian Aborigines after the death of Truganini in 1876 as well as lack of any meaningful cultural practice such as language.

However, since the mid 1970s vocal campaigners from the ranks of Tasmanian Aborigine descendants such as Michael Mansell have sought to repopularise identification with Aboriginal descent.

It is acknowledged that there are presently some 150,000 members of the descendant community.An amazing figure considering there were only approx 5000 living on the island when Europeans arrived. Almost all are descendants of "full-blood" women.

More recently there have been initiatives to introduce DNA testing to establish family history in descendant subgroups. This has drawn an angry reaction from some quarters, as some have claimed spiritual connection with aboriginality distinct from, but not as important as the existence of a genetic link.

The Tasmanian Palawa Aboriginal community is also making an effort to reconstruct and reintroduce a Tasmanian language, called palawa kani out of the various records on Tasmanian languages. Other Tasmanian aboriginal communities use words from traditional tasmanian languages, according to the language area they were born or live in.

Legislated definition

In June 2005, the Tasmanian Legislative Council introduced an innovated definition of aboriginality into the Aboriginal Lands Act. The bill was passed to allow Aboriginal Lands Council elections to commence, after uncertainty over who was 'aboriginal', and thus eligible to vote.

Under the bill, a person can claim 'Tasmanian Aboriginality' if they meet the following criteria:

Ancestry
Self-identification
Community recognition

Government compensation for 'Stolen Generations'

In November 2006 Tasmania became the first Australian state or territory to offer financial compensation for the Stolen Generations, Aborigines forcibly removed from their families by Australian government agencies and church missions between about 1900 and 1972. Up to 40 Tasmanian Aborigine descendants are expected to be eligible for compensation from the $5 million package.

Some notable Tasmanian Aborigines

Truganini and Fanny Cochrane Smith, both claimants to being the last Aborigines of original Tasmanian descent.
William Lanne or "King Billy"

External links

Foster, S.G. Contra Windschuttle, Quadrant, March 2003, 47:3
Records Relating to Tasmanian Aboriginal People from the Archives Office of Tasmania "Brief Guide No. 18"
Statistics - Tasmania - History - Aboriginal occupation (from the Australian Bureau of Statistics)
The Lia Pootah People Home Page
Historian dismisses Tasmanian aboriginal genocide "myth" (contains edited transcript of 2002 ABC radio interviews by Peter McCutcheon with historian and author Keith Windschuttle and historian and author Henry Reynolds)
"Native Fiction" a sympathetic New Criterion review of Keith Windschuttle's book casting doubt on a supposed Tasmanian genocide.
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
Reconciliation Australia
1984 Review of Tom Haydon's documentary "The Last Tasmanian" (1978)
"Tension in Tasmania over who is an Aborigine" Article from The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper by Richard Flanagan
A history from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Transcript of current affairs television program Sunday with Keith Windschuttle, Prof. Henry Reynolds, Prof. Cassandra Pybus, Prof. Lyndall Ryan, and others