Woretemoeteryenner ( – 13 October 1847), also known as "Bung", "Pung", and "Margaret", was an Aboriginal Tasmanian woman who had children with George Briggs, an English convict. She worked as a sealer and kangaroo hunter. Woretemoeteryenner and her sisters are among the few Palawa people whose lives bridge the experience of Aboriginal people before and after European contact.

Early life

Woretemoeteryenner was born in the

Cape Portland Cape Portland, officially Luemerrernanner / Cape Portland, is both a geographical feature and a locality near the north-eastern tip of Tasmania, Australia. The cape points west across Ringarooma Bay, where the Ringarooma River empties into the ...

area of

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

). She was a member of the Cape Portland Tasmanian tribe, one of the nine Aboriginal nations in what is now Tasmania. Her father Mannalargenna was a leader of the Cape Portland Tasmanians. She had three sisters: Wapperty (Wobberrertee), Wottecowidyer, and Teekoolterme. Woretemoeteryenner and her sisters are among the few Palawa people whose lives bridge the experience of Aboriginal people before and after European contact on the island.

European contact

The life of the Palawa people changed significantly after contact with Europeans. The shipwrecked ''

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney locatio ...

'' four that there were large numbers of seals off the coast of Van Diemen's Land. Approximately two hundred European men lived in the Bass Strait islands. Some of them abducted Aboriginal women to be used as workers or concubines. In 1803 and 1804, the first European settlements were formed at

Risdon Cove Risdon Cove is a cove located on the east bank of the Derwent River, approximately north of Hobart, Tasmania. It was the site of the first British settlement in Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, the island state of Australia. The cove was named ...

and

Port Dalrymple George Town (Palawa_kani: ''kinimathatakinta'') is a large town in north-east Tasmania, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar River. The Australian Bureau of Statistics records the George Town Municipal Area had a population of 6,764 as ...

, respectively.

Relationships

George Briggs

George Briggs, born in England, came to what is now Australia in 1805 when he was fourteen years of age. Briggs became a sealer. He met Woretemoeteryenner and they likely lived together beginning around 1810. It is likely that the relationship was made with Mannalargenna's approval, since Briggs and Woretemoeteryenner's father were on good terms. She was referred to as "Mrs. Briggs" by Colonial officials and on her death certificate. Woretemoeteryenner gave birth to her children on the Bass Strait islands. She had a daughter named Dalrymple (Dolly) about 1812. She had three more daughters: Eliza, Mary (also known as Margaret), and an unnamed daughter, born in 1817, 1818 and 1819, respectively, who all died young. The unnamed daughter was killed during an attack by a group of Aboriginal people. A son named John was born in 1820. Woretemoeteryenner was sold by Briggs to another sealer for a guinea sometime after 1820.

Later life

Woretemoeteryenner was a sealer initially. By 1820, most of the seals had been hunted out at the

Furneaux Group The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of th ...

of the Bass Strait islands and they needed to travel farther to find seals to hunt. Woretemoeteryenner and others boarded boats to go to

Île Amsterdam Île Amsterdam (), also known as Amsterdam Island and New Amsterdam (''Nouvelle-Amsterdam''), is an island of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean that together with neighbouring Île Saint-Paul to the south for ...

and

Île Saint-Paul Île Saint-Paul (Saint Paul Island) is an island forming part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (''Terres australes et antarctiques françaises'', TAAF) in the Indian Ocean, with an area of . The island is located about south of the la ...

in the Indian Ocean. Aboriginal women and children were left by the ship's captain at

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...

due to bad weather. Abandoned, the group made it to the nearby island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. Woretemoeteryenner was one of three women who survived the ordeal and was repatriated. In 1832, she lived at the Wybalenna Aboriginal Settlement where she hunted kangaroo into 1841. She died at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 13 October 1847.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woretemoeteryenner 1795 births 1847 deaths Indigenous Tasmanian people Australian hunters Sealers