Jandamarra
Jandamarra (* 1873 ; † April 1, 1897 in Tunnel Creek National Park , Western Australia ), also called Pigeon (German: Taube), was an Aboriginal of the Bunuba tribe who violently resisted the European settlement of Australia . The land of the Bunuba is located in the south of the Kimberley in Western Australia. It extends from Fitzroy Crossing to the King Leopold Ranges , in this area are the Napier Range and the Oscar Range .
Life
When the European settlers invaded the Kimberley in the 1880s, the young Jandamarra hired himself out to them as a drover and sheep shearer , but kept in touch with his tribe. The bunuba hunter Ellemara became his model; but he also made friends with the white drover Bill Richardson. When he switched to the police, he went with them as a tracker. In a police operation they arrested a group of the rebels Bunuba and Ellemara. They trapped the Aborigines in Lillimooloora Station, about 3 kilometers south of Windjana Gorge . His tribal members put him under pressure and he released the Aborigines on October 31, 1894, before he shot Richardson and captured small arms.
On November 10, 1894, the escaped attacked five white drovers and shot two. This was the first time that Aborigines carried out firearm attacks against the white settlers and this was the beginning of the so-called Bunuba War . On November 16, 1894, 30 armed police officers and settlers attacked Jandamarra and his warriors in their hiding place at Windjana Gorge . Jandamarra was badly wounded, but was able to flee into Tunnel Creek and escape into the underground river. The Aborigines then believed him to be immortal. However, there was a rock fall in the tunnel that made it possible to escape to the top. His reputation was legendary and it was believed that only another mythical Aboriginal warrior could defeat him.
The armed settlers attacked the Bunaba camps around Fitzroy Crossing and numerous Aborigines were murdered. For three years Jandamarra led an armed resistance against the police and against the European settlers. Another bunaba named Mingo Mick pursued him and shot him in Tunnel Creek on April 1, 1897. His head was severed and sent to England as a trophy and his body was ritually buried in a baobab tree, an Adansonia gregorii . A stone memorial to him is located about 100 meters west of the exit of Tunnel Creek in the Napier Range.
Culture
The life of Jandamarra found its way into literature: Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance and it was staged and televised as a play Jandamarra by the Black Swan Theater Company . There he was referred to as the black Ned Kelly of the Kimberley.
literature
- Howard Pedersen, Banjo Woorunmurra (2004): Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance. ISBN 1-875641-60-2
- Vine Taylor: Jandamarra . In: Rewind (transcript) . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. September 26, 2004. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Janine Günther, Jens Mohr (2009): Westaustralien und das Top End , p. 345. Verlag 360 Grad, Gamehl 2005, ISBN 978-3-9809763-0-5
- ↑ Jandamarra . In: Theater Reviews . Theater Australia. September 26, 2004. Archived from the original on July 29, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jandamarra |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pigeon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Aboriginal, martial leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1873 |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 1, 1897 |
| Place of death | Tunnel Creek National Park , Western Australia |