Arabanoo (b.circa 1758 – d.1789)
was an
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
man of the
Eora forcibly abducted by the European settlers of the
First Fleet at
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...
on New Year's Eve, 1788, in order to facilitate communication and relations between the Aborigines and the Europeans. Arabanoo was the first Aboriginal person of
Australia to live among Europeans.
Background
Life for the settlers at Port Jackson was difficult in the first years and did not help relations between the Aboriginal people of the
Eora clans and the Europeans.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Arthur Phillip decided that the "state of petty warfare and endless uncertainty" had to end. He decided to kidnap an Aboriginal person, as he explained in a Letter to
Lord Sydney:
"It was absolutely necessary that we should attain their language, or teach them ours that the means of redress might be pointed out to them, if they are injured, and to reconcile them by showing the many advantages they would enjoy by mixing with us." At Manly cove, two Aboriginal people were seized but one escaped. He appeared to be about 30 years old.
Captivity
In order to prevent him from escaping, Arabanoo was usually restrained by handcuff and rope, or iron chains, and was locked in a hut with a
convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...
at night. When Arabanoo was first cuffed, he believed the handcuffs to be unique ornaments, but he became enraged when he discovered the purpose. Though the governor's goal of improving relations was somewhat noble, the kidnapping of Arabanoo did not do a great deal of good.
He did not learn English very quickly, "At least not to the point where he could make Phillip any wiser on the grievances of the natives." In any case, convicts would soon launch
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...
attacks on the Aboriginal people near
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
.
In 1789,
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
broke out in the settlement, and spread amongst the Indigenous population. Having no immunity, an estimated 2000 died. After only 6 months amongst the settlers, Arabanoo died of smallpox, which he called ''galgalla'', on 18 May 1789. He was buried in the garden of the government building. Colonel David Collins said his death was "to the great regret of everyone who had witnessed how little of the savage was found in his manner, and how quickly he was substituting in its place a docile, affable, and truly amiable deportment".
See also
*
Australian Aboriginal culture
Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...
*
History of Australia
The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia.
People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and penetrated to all part ...
*
History of Australia (1788–1850)
The history of Australia from 1788 to 1850 covers the early British colonial period of Australia's history. This started with the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson on the lands of the Eora, and the establishme ...
*
History of Indigenous Australians
References
* Keneally, Tom. The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Sydney Experiment(2005). Random House. pp. 195–204, 208–212.
* Geoffrey, Blainey. A Shorter History of Australia.(2009). Random House.
External links
*
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History of Indigenous Australians
1789 deaths
Deaths from smallpox
Year of birth unknown
Indigenous Australian people
1758 births
Eora