#she came from lutriwita tasmania. during her lifetime she personally witnessed an estimated 96% genocide of her people.

[falled-over]

remembering truganini is enough to ruin my day.

#i kind of want to make an art piece about her but i do feel weird using her as a basis for it. so it just exists in my head #its not like a 'i would need permission from palawa people to make it thing' i wouldnt do it even if i got permission. its not mine and #doesnt need to be #im sure the person reading this doesnt know who she is so heres a small part of her story; #she came from lutriwita tasmania. during her lifetime she personally witnessed an estimated 96% genocide of her people. #in the 1830's george a robinson towards the end of the 'black wars' (attempted palawa aboriginal genocide. it was very much #a war) travelled to offer a 'peace treaty' of sorts to the very few remaining (from an estimated 6-20 thousand to around 1-2 hundred) #saying they could go and live on an island where they'd be given flour and tea and a 'good white man' to protect them. truganini was asked #to be his guide to ensure he wouldnt be killed when attempting to speak to people. her reasonings for accepting were of course never #recorded but she did. and helped round up those people. almost all of whom died in the horrible conditions they were forced to live in on #that island (wybalenna). 16 made it back to lutriwita. #she saw the graves dug there for her people looted by settlers. #looted for bones. and skin. so they could be studied like specimines #the remaining people were sent back to live in an ex-convict camp in 1838. 8 years on that island. most died. as was the intention #even on her wikipedia page she is credited as 'one of the last full-blooded tasmanian aboriginals' which is a phrase highly contested by #living palawa people today. but she knew her reputation. she was considered the last tasmanian aboriginal. #upon the approaching of her death she took a trip to a nearby river and pointed to the deepest part of it #asking to be buried there #she had seen how her friends family and people had had their graves robbed by white settlers and knew the same would happen to her. she #wanted to rest in peace. in the bush. in the deepest part of the river #born around 1811-1812 she died in 1876 #and the last piece of her skin was returned to lutriwita from a british scientific association in 2002. #126 years later #her skeleton was on display in the tasmanian museum (still in operation i might add) until the 1940s. some 70 odd years. and remained in #the museums storage before being returned to the palawa community in 1976. 100 years after her death #she asked to be buried in the deepest part of the river. where no one could touch her.