Jandamarra
Jandamarra was an influential Aboriginal figure born around 1873 in the central Kimberley region of Australia, specifically the traditional lands of the Bunuba people. His early life was marked by the encroachment of white settlers seeking agricultural land, which led to conflict as Aboriginal peoples resisted the loss of their territory and sacred sites. Initially working as a stockman, Jandamarra became involved with local pastoralists but ultimately rejected these colonial allegiances after being inspired by his community's plight. Following a violent confrontation where he freed imprisoned Bunuba elders, he emerged as a leader in the resistance against colonial expansion.
For two years, he waged a guerrilla war, employing innovative tactics and evading capture, which earned him a legendary status among the Bunuba and the fear of settlers. His life ended in a standoff with the police in 1897, and his death was treated with brutal finality, as his head was sent to Great Britain as proof of his demise. The aftermath of his struggle saw increased settlement in Bunuba lands, yet Jandamarra's legacy continued to resonate, leading to efforts for land rights and recognition of Aboriginal heritage in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In 2012, the Federal Court of Australia recognized Bunuba people's native title rights, a testament to Jandamarra's enduring impact on his community’s fight for justice and land.
Jandamarra
- Born: ca. 1873
- Birthplace: Central Kimberley region, Western Australia
- Died: April 1, 1897
- Place of death: Tunnel Creek, Western Australia
Significance: Jandamarra was a Bunuba leader who defended his people and land in Western Australia against the encroachment of white settlers. His training in horsemanship and firearms, as well as his experience as a tracker, informed his guerrilla war against the settlers. His death marked the end of Aboriginal armed resistance.
Background
Jandamarra was born around 1873 in the central Kimberley. The central Kimberley along the Fitzroy River was the traditional land of ten Aboriginal peoples, including the Bunuba. During the 1870s and 1880s white explorers and settlers increasingly came to the area in search of pastureland. At first the Aboriginal peoples assisted the newcomers, guiding them so as to control their actions and to minimise their length of stay. The colonial government promoted the region for agriculture, and by the late 1880s many cattle and sheep stations had been established there.
The Aboriginal peoples resisted the increasing encroachment of white settlers on their lands. The pastoralists took the traditional lands of the Aboriginal peoples, displaced them and violated their sacred places. Deprived of access to their traditional lands for hunting and gathering food, Aboriginal peoples attacked livestock. Aboriginal resistance was particularly active in the Oscar and Napier Ranges, where the Bunuba people lived. Fighting between the Bunuba people and pastoralists was common during Jandamarra's first ten years of life.
Early Training
When Jandamarra was around eleven years old, he and his mother moved to her home country, on the Lennard River. Jandamarra went to work for a pastoralist, William Lukin, who had established a large cattle station in the area. He learned to shear sheep, ride a horse and shoot a gun, earning a reputation for horsemanship and marksmanship.
At fifteen, Jandamarra returned to his father's country, where his uncle Ellemarra taught him Bunuba law and rituals in preparation for initiation into adulthood. In 1889 he and his uncle killed sheep. Following a manhunt, they were jailed in Derby. Jandamarra was released after agreeing to care for the Derby police's horses. He spent a year there, then returned to Lennard River and worked as a stockman before returning to his traditional land.
Changing Allegiances
Jandamarra's return was short-lived: the Bunuba people rejected him because his sexual relationships had violated Bunuba law. Jandamarra next worked for pastoralist William Forrestor, whose Lillimooloora Station was in Bunuba country, and soon became the assistant to station manager Bill Richardson. After Richardson joined the police force in 1894, Jandamarra became his tracker. Working from the then-abandoned Lillimooloora Station, Richardson, Jandamarra and another Aboriginal tracker, Captain, located and captured Aboriginal peoples suspected of any offence.
On 31 October 1894, the group captured sixteen Bunuba elders, including Ellemarra. While Jandamarra was guarding them, the elders persuaded him to release them. They cited their leniency when he violated Bunuba law and described a planned invasion of their land and the murder of Aboriginal peoples by a new police officer. Jandamarra shot the sleeping Richardson and freed the elders.
Resistance Leader
Jandamarra returned to the Bunuba country with the elders to defend their land from intrusion by colonists. Along the way they attacked a delivery wagon and stole its weapons and rations. In their first attack Jandamarra and Ellemarra shot two white stockmen at a watering hole near Windjana Gorge in Napier Ranges. Their deaths infuriated settlers as it was the first time that Aboriginal people had shot white settlers in that region. Thirty police and colonists sought the perpetrators. They encountered fifty Bunuba warriors at Windjana Gorge on 16 November 1894, and a battle ensued. Ellemarra was killed, and Jandamarra was gravely wounded. Jandamarra managed to escape and hid in caves, where his mother protected him until he healed.
For two years Jandamarra used the caves as his base and waged a guerrilla war against the pastoralists near the Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. At first, police and pastoralists responded by killing any Aboriginal people along the Fitzroy River whom they suspected of supporting the resistance. Jandamarra then changed tactics. Instead of killing the settlers, he raided their homes and stations. He also reportedly trained others how to use firearms and advised them how the police and trackers operated. Twice he raided the Lillimooloora police station. He intentionally left signs to show he had been there and could have inflicted more damage. His taunting enraged the colonists and police, who intensified their attempts to capture him. Jandamarra's uncanny ability to elude detection and capture earned him a reputation for possessing superhuman powers, and he became a legend in the Bunuba country and nearby regions. Some colonists so feared him, they moved away.
The Lennard River police hired an Aboriginal tracker, Mingo Mick (also known as Micki), to find him. In late March 1897, Mick located Jandamarra near caves at Tunnel Creek. They exchanged gunfire over three days, and Jandamarra was fatally shot on 1 April 1897. The police then beheaded him as proof of his death and sent his head to Great Britain.
Impact
Shortly after Jandamarra's death, white settlers took over the Bunuba land and established pastoral stations. Many Aboriginal peoples lost their lives during the struggle to protect their traditional land, and others were displaced. Some Aboriginal peoples moved back to their traditional land, worked on the pastoral stations and adjusted to a new way of life.
In 1998 a Bunuba group filed a claim for native title rights to the Bunuba country, continuing the cause that Jandamarra had fought and died for. Interest in their case increased after the production of a play about his life. Jandamarra, with a cast featuring Bunuba actors, premiered in Perth in 2008. In 2012 the Federal Court of Australia recognised the Bunuba people's native title rights and interest to 6,258 kilometres of their traditional land in the Kimberley. In December 2015 the court granted the Bunuba native title and interest on additional land, returning much of the land that Jandamarra had sought to protect for his people.
Bibliography
Australian Heritage Council. West Kimberley Place Report. Dept. of the Environment and Energy, Australian Government, www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/ed0b4e39-41eb-4cee-84f6-049a932c5d46/files/ahc-final-assessment-full.pdf. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
"Jandamarra." Jandamarra Project, www.jandamarra.com.au/jandamarratheman.html. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
"Jandamarra—Bunuba Warrior." Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 11 Jan. 2016, aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/jandamarra-bunuba-warrior. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
Oscar, June. "Encountering Truth: The Real Life Stories of Objects from Empire's Frontier and Beyond." British Museum's Enduring Civilizations Exhibition Opening, 29 Apr. 2015, Centre for Australian Studies, London, United Kingdom. Lecture. aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/encountering-truth-real-life-stories-objects-empires-frontier-and-beyond. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
Pedersen, Howard. "Jandamarra (1870–1897)." Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, ia.anu.edu.au/biography/jandamarra-8822. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
Pedersen, Howard, and Banjo Woorunmurra. Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance. Magabala Books, 1995.
Quartermaine, Craig. "How Jandamarra Went from Resistance Fighter to a Bunuba Legend." NITV News, 3 Apr. 2017, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-point-with-stan-grant/article/2017/04/03/how-jandamarra-went-resistance-fighter-bunuba-legend. Accessed 8 Jan. 2018.
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