The History & Art of Tasmanian Aborigines

The following information is by a modern Tasmanian. She speaks with pride about her home, the history of her race, her culture, her artist heritage as well as her feelings about the near genocide of her race.   "Tasmania is the beautiful island state lying to the south of eastern Australia.   It is renowned for its scenery, mountains, lakes, wild untamed rivers, beautiful beaches, unique animals etc.   World travellers are all impressed with the beauty of my island home.   I have been fortunate enough to do some travelling myself, so can verify this firsthand.   The state of Tasmania includes Macquarie Island, which is well on the way to Antarctica. Being surrounded by water Tasmania has quite a moderate climate & also dense temperate rainforests.
Anthropologists disagree as to the relationship of my people to mainland Aboriginals.   At one time we were considered to be a distinct separate race; then just a separate tribe.   The present opinion is probably between these two extremes.   Certainly we are descended from the earliest human arrivals in Australia, and being cut off by Bass Strait did not intermarry with the later arrivals like our mainland cousins did.   Our culture is similar to theirs, which proves we are closely related.   Some say our language is similar to the language of the original aboriginal inhabitants of Japan and we share a common genetic pattern with them.   Certainly we have some oriental features; almond shaped eyes, high cheekbones and a long forehead.   Full bloods were a deep tan brown with a yellow tinge, shorter in statue than Europeans.   Most have curly hair, our men having tighter curls than the women.   In pre-European times our men had beards of tight ringlets.   We have tiny ankles and wrists.   The early European invaders considered us to be a good-looking well-formed people. Our people were divided into 9 tribes.   There were at least 5 dialects of our language.   On the west coast permanent villages of huts were built.   The insides of the huts were of course covered with art.   Shellfish collected by the women and small mammals and birds hunted by the men were a major part of the diet.   Women also caught small animals and collected plants.   Coastal tribes made regular trips to off shore islands to hunt seal and mutton-birds.   (Our people still make these trips.   Some traditional foods are very popular and such outings provide a continuing link to our culture.)   Watercrafts were made from bark & reeds.   Incidentally Bass Strait is one of the roughest bodies of water in the world.   Our women made sturdy baskets for collecting food and carrying personal items in.   Tools and containers were made from wood, bone, stone, seaweed, bark, grass and sinew or tendons.

The history of my people after European occupation does not make very nice reading.   Perhaps the fact that Tasmanians were (incorrectly) said to be extinct after 1876 says it all!      One very well known event in Tasmanian history is called the “round-up”.   It removed Aboriginals from the areas settled by Europeans and transported them to a spot on Flinders Island.   (Some of the ones involved in this had honourable intentions.)   Most died there and in 1847 the survivors of this roundup numbering only 47 were returned to the main island.   In 1876 the last of this group, Truganini, died.   However this was not the end of our people.   Some had married or been adopted by Europeans and thus were not included in the roundup.   (Some in more isolated areas like the King River group were not originally included anyway.)   Some children were born on Flinders Island.   eg. Fanny Cochrane Smith was born in 1834 but survived well into the 20th century.   Around 1900 she recorded some of the songs she had learned as a child on Flinders Island.   Beginning in 1798 sealers began working in Bass Strait.   They sometimes married, though at other times enslaved, Tasmanian women.   From a somewhat shaky beginning they established successful communities.   By 1820 there were 100 Aboriginal women and their children living on islands in the Strait.   These communities were a successful mix of European and Aboriginal culture, so they thrived.   The women continued to gather wild foods.   Mutton birding was a main part of the economy.   They made their traditional necklaces and had traditional gatherings.   Remnants of the Tasmanian languages were retained.   The woman sang in three-part harmony like they had for centuries.   In 1871 some families were given land on Cape Barren Island.   It is somewhat comical (though certainly not for those involved!) that these same people were later brought under the “Aboriginal Act” and were not allowed to leave the reserves on the islands without government permission.   This was the same government that claimed Tasmanians were extinct!   As a young child I was taught this, and had a number of what I now know as bizarre explanations given to me by neighbours as to why my relatives were so dark.   Like all young children I was colour-blind; it was only the neighbours who noticed.

As mentioned previously necklace making was a big part of our culture.   Traditional necklaces are still made on Bass Strait islands.   Like all Aboriginal societies art was a big part of our culture.   It is believed that Tasmanians were the first to do circle art.   Some anthropologists think Tasmanians are closely related to a group now living in central Australia because of the similar style of our art.   Early settlers noted that the interiors of our huts were covered with paintings.   A large number of symbols used in our art are still known, but unfortunately in many cases their meaning is unknown.   The engraving of our rock art is spectacular even by Australian standards.   It is believed that there is a large amount of cave art still to be discovered in Tasmania.   Parts of Tasmania are covered with dense rain forest and only partially explored.   Some wonderful finds have been made already in these areas.   My peoples’ love of pretty colours and bright shiny things was well known and recorded.   (In earlier times sailors gave pretty bright beads to our women hoping to solicit favours.)   We loved the pretty stars.   In fact many Tasmanians died of pneumonia in the 1800s because they put holes in the roofs of European style houses so they could sleep by the stars.   The past two hundred years have brought changes; but our culture has never died.   Like all ‘living cultures’ it continues to evolve, and this is reflected in our art.   My people have always liked beauty and pretty things & I feel this is reflected in our art. Our history goes back thousands of years, and we as a people continue on still enjoying the 'pretty things of life'."

Tasmanian Aboriginal History, Culture & Art