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This site may contain words, descriptions and images which may sadden and distress some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Aftermath
"In 1803, when the first settlers arrived in Van Diemen’s Land, the Aborigines had already inhabited the island for some 25,000 years and the population has been estimated at 4,000. Seventy-three years later, Truganinni, [often cited as] the last Tasmanian of full Aboriginal descent, was dead."
(Historian John Morris, n.d.)
To think that an entire group of people who had been living peacefully on their land for over 25,000, had been decimated in seventy-three years is without doubt a tragedy.
A picture of the last four Tasmanian Aborigines of solely indigenous descent c.1860s. This photograph effectively portrays the sadness felt by the Tasmanian Aborigines after the Black War. None of the four Aborigines are smiling. The fact that they are dressed in European clothing suggests that they have been colonised by the British. Despite this, their dignity and quiet resolution are evident.
Comparing the lives of Tasmanian Aborigines before and after the Black War occurred, one can understand the extent to which the British impacted so negatively on the lives and culture of the indigenous people. A short clip from the documentary The First Australians produced in 2008, outlines how in the span of a single lifetime, a people who had occupied the land for thousands of years had 'almost been exterminated'. The above quote from historian John Morris corroborates with the video pointing out that "Seventy-three years later, Trugaini [often cited as] the last Tasmanian of full Aboriginal descent, was dead" (Morris, n.d.). Not only was the Tasmanian population affected, but the descendants of those survivors lived challenging and difficult lives . One particular Tasmanian Aborigine, Errol West, tells his story of being a Tasmanian Aborigine through a poem called "People of the moon-bird," which has been included below.
"After the last Tasman man died, competing teams of doctors fought over his body. They dug up his corpse from its grave and re-buried it after removing organs; they also stole the organs from one another."
(The Combat Genocide Association, 2016)
The Combat Genocide Association is an organization that educates individuals about genocides that have occurred in the past. In this specific extract, it describes the way British doctors 'fought over' the body of the last Tasmanian man, digging 'up his corpse from its grave' before 'removing organs' (The Combat Genocide Association, 2016).
The Poem "People of the moon bird" by Errol West
"Like dust blown across the plain are the people of the Moon Bird
​
And yet there is no one to teach me the songs
That bring the Moon Bird, the fish
​
Or any other thing that makes me what I am."
(Tasmanian Aborigines, Errol West, 2016)
"In the 1970s a young Tasmanian Aborigine, Errol West, wrote a beautiful poem, The Moon Birds of Big Dog Island, about the great gaping absence that was being a Tasmanian Aborigine" (Flanagan, 2002). This poem effectively reflects the loss of culture as a result of the 'genocide'. The line "and yet there is no one to teach me the songs" suggests that the 'genocide' destroyed a rich culture and its people as there is no one left to teach those who are living past rituals and traditions that date back thousands of years.
(Excerpt from 'First Australians' , 2008)
Youtube Clip: Tasmanians all but completely exterminated in one lifetime by Europeans
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