Arabanoo (b.circa 1758 – d.1789) was an Indigenous Australian man of the

Eora The Eora (''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sy ...

forcibly abducted by the European settlers of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

at Port Jackson 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

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

clans and the Europeans. Governor

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...

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 Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1733 – 30 June 1800) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1783 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney. He held several important Cabinet posts in ...

: "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 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 attacks on the Aboriginal people near Botany Bay. In 1789, smallpox 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".

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

* {{authority control History of Indigenous Australians 1789 deaths Deaths from smallpox Year of birth unknown Indigenous Australian people 1758 births Eora

Background

Captivity

See also

References

External links