Pemulwuy

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For the Sydney suburb, see Pemulwuy, New South Wales.

Pemulwuy was born in 1769 and was an Indigenous Australian man who was born in the area of Botany Bay in New South Wales. He is noted for his resistance to the European settlement of Australia which began with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. He is believed to have been a member of the Bidjigal (Bediagal) clan of the Eora people.

[edit] Overview

In 1790 Pemulwuy and four other Aboriginal tribesmen speared Governor Philip's gamekeeper John McIntyre, who is believed to have killed Aboriginal people, and subsequently McIntyre died. An expedition was organised in retaliation to Pemulwuy's actions, but failed because no Aboriginal people could be found.

From 1792 Pemulwuy led raids on settlers from Parramatta to the Hawkesbury River. In 1797 he was wounded and captured after a raid on the government farm at Toongabbie. Despite having buckshot in his head and body and wearing a leg-iron, he managed to escape from hospital. This gave further substance to the belief that he was a carradhy (clever man).

He led several attacks which resulted in head-on confrontations with the New South Wales Corps, including the sacking of the Lane Cove settlement and the capture of Parramatta.

In November 1801 Governor Philip Gidley King outlawed Pemulwuy and offered a reward for his death or capture.

In 1802 Pemulwuy was shot; his head was severed, preserved in spirits and sent to London to Sir Joseph Banks accompanied by a letter from Governor King who wrote: "Although a terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character."

Pemulwuy's son Tedbury continued the resistance until he himself was killed in 1810.

Pemulwuy's skull is believed to have been returned to Australia in the 1950s but was since lost. In 1998 a skull was identified as Pemulwuy's, but there is an ongoing dispute between a group of Aborigines from Taree who believe that the skull is actually that of a Taree man and Redfern Aboriginal undertaker Allan Murray who believes it to be Pemulwuy's and wishes to have the skull buried and a statue erected.

The saga of the sending of Pemulwuy's head to England and its return to Australia with an ongoing controversy is remarkably similar to that of Yagan, a Western Australian Noongar who was killed there 30 years later.

Pemulwuy, New South Wales is now a suburb of Sydney with the postcode 2145, which it shares with Greystanes, Westmead, Wentworthville and Constitution Hill. A park in the Sydney suburb of Redfern has also been named in his honour.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

Willmott, E., 1987, Pemulwuy – the rainbow warrior, Weldons. A well-researched novel with plenty of factual content.
Dark, Eleanor, 1947, The Timeless Land, also uses early colonial documents as source, including a recount of unsuccessful search for Pemulwuy by Arthur Philip's officers.