Truganini Totally Explained

Everything about Truganini totally explained

Truganini (ca. 1812 – May 8 1876) is the person generally considered the last Tasmanian Aborigine. She is also notable for her role in the Black War.
There are a number of different versions of her name, including Truganini, Trugernanna, Trugannini, Trucanini, Trucaninny, and Lalla Rooke.

Truganini's life

Early life

Truganini was born around 1812 on Bruny Island, south of today's Tasmanian capital Hobart, and separated from the Tasmanian mainland by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. She was a daughter of Mangana, Chief of the Bruny Island people. Her name was the word her tribe used to describe the grey saltbush Atriplex cinerea. Before she was eighteen, her mother had been killed by whalers, her first fiance died while saving her from abduction, and in 1828, her two sisters, Lowhenunhue and Maggerleede, were abducted and taken to Kangaroo Island, off South Australia and sold as slaves. She soon married Woorrady, although he died when she was still in her twenties.
When Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1824, he implemented two policies to deal with the growing conflict between settlers and the Aborigines. First, bounties were awarded for the capture of Aboriginal adults and children, and secondly, Arthur tried to establish friendly relations to lure the aborigines into camps. He started this campaign on Bruny Island where there had been fewer hostilities than in other parts of Tasmania.
In 1830, George Augustus Robinson, the Protector of Aborigines, moved Truganini and Woorrady to Flinders Island with about one hundred others, the last surviving Tasmanian Aborigines. The stated aim of isolation was to save them, but many of the group died from influenza and other diseases. Truganini also helped Robinson with a settlement for mainland aborigines at Port Phillip in 1838. However, she joined in the rebellion and was sent back to Flinders Island. In 1856, the few surviving Tasmanian Aborigines on Flinders Island, including Truganini, were moved to a settlement at Oyster Cove, south of Hobart.

Final years and legacy

By 1873, Truganini was the sole survivor of the Oyster Cove group, and was again moved to Hobart. She died three years later, having requested that her ashes be scattered in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. Truganini was, however, buried at the former "Female Factory" at Cascades, a suburb of Hobart. Within two years, her skeleton was exhumed by the Royal Society of Tasmania and later placed on display. Only in April of 1976, approaching the centenary of her death, were her remains finally cremated and scattered according to her wishes.
In 1997 the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, returned Truganini's necklace and bracelet to Tasmania. Hair and skin were found in the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2002, and they were returned to Tasmania for burial.

Cultural references

"Truganini" is the name of a song by Midnight Oil; this song spoke partly of Truganini herself but also of what Midnight Oil saw as Australia's environmental and social problems. Truganina, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, is possibly named after her.

Further Information

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