Bilin Bilin (born c. 1820; died 1901) was a member of the Yugambeh

Bundjalung people The Bundjalung people, also spelt Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of the northern coastal area of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately northeast of Sydney, an area th ...

in Australia, who gained respect of the European colonials and received a king plate for it. Alternate names for him include Jackey Jackey, Kawae Kawae, John Logan, and Bilinba. Bilin Bilin chose to work with the Europeans and be friendly to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, in so much as distributing

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

s, while maintaining his

traditional beliefs A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays o ...

. In his case, favoring diplomacy over confrontation helped his ability to stay on his ancestral land for most of his life. His

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

included demanding equal wages for his people and encouraging them not to leave their land. A

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Pastor, Haussmann, taught him to read and write.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilin, Bilin History of Indigenous Australians 1901 deaths 1820s births Indigenous Australian people