This site may contain words, descriptions and images which may sadden and distress some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Before the Genocide
Before the British occupied Tasmania, the Aborigines lived peacefully, in harmony with the environment, free from the intervention, violence and later control of the white settlers.
The Paintings of Robert Dowling (1827 - 1886)
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The selected paintings above effectively portray the Tasmanians community-orientated lifestyle before their freedom was taken from them. The most famous of Dowling's Tasmanian works is the oil-on-canvas painting 'Tasmanian Aborigines,' which was produced in 1856 in Launceston, Tasmania. The Aborigines are thoughtfully integrated into the surrounding landscape which reflects how they were closely connected to nature and relied on it for survival. The use of various greens and browns in the work reinforces this idea.
"Like other indigeous Australians the people had a nomadic life pattern, settlement sites remained well-defined and continuously re-visited, and socially connected groups (often inexactly called "tribes") clearly identified territories to which they had exclusive access. There were some ten mutually-incomprehensible languages among the 4-6,000 people living in Tasmania at the beginning of the 19th Century, and there was reportedly also considerable physical diversity between groups."
(Historian and Tasmanian University Associate Rod Ewins, 2001)
In the accompanying quote, Ewins points out the diversity of the Aboriginal tribes that lived in Tasmania before the arrival of the British. He states "There were some ten languages among the 4-6000 people living in Tasmania at the beginning of the 19th century" (Ewins, 2001). Before the Black War occurred in Tasmania, the Aborigines living there were relatively peaceful people and were able to freely practise their culture, speaking in languages that made them unique. Another significant factor was that each tribe had "clearly identified territories to which they had exclusive access" (Ewins, 2001). When the British occupied Tasmania, they invaded these territories and therefore disrupted a tradition and broke societal rules that were important to the Aboriginal population.
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This is an 1837 oil-on-canvas painting by John Glover depicting the Tasmanian environment and the lives of the Palawa people. This work portrays the Palawa Aborigines activities of hunting for food by climbing the trees to catch aniamls, standing in the river to catch fish and resting by the camp fire. The River Nile ran through Glover's farm and this was his depiction of the landscape. In reality, by 1837, the remaining Tasmanian Aborigines had been removed and exiled to Flinder's Island.
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Although this work, thought to be created in 1803 may not have been based on the Tasmanian Aborigines specifically, it effectively portays one of the way Tasmanians gathered food. The painting also demonstrates their natural lifestyle and conservative approach to hunting.
This sketch portays an Aboriginal family living together and peacefully conerversing, wearing no clothes, typical of their culture. It demonstrates the fact that Aborigines were not violent people and portrays how Tasmanian Aborigines lived before the colonisation of the British. It is not a sketch of the Tasmanian Aborigines specifically.
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George Augustus Robinson, the then Protector of Aborigines for Van Diemen's Land, commissioned this painting from John Glover, which he hoped to use as a frontispiece for a book he was planning. In a letter to Robinson, Glover wrote that he wanted the picture to depict "the Natives at a corrobory, under the wild Woods of the Country - to give an idea of the manner they enjoyed themselves before being disturbed by the White People" [State Library of New South Wales, 2016]
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A portrait of a Tasmanian.
Another portrait of a Tasmanian.
"Europeans discovered it in 1642, when they found around 6,000 habitants who lived as hunter-gatherers, who were of similar origin to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. They used more primitive technology than any other people in the modern era and manufactured only a few simple tools from wood and stone. They had no contact with the outside world until the arrival of Europeans."
(The Combat Genocide Association, 2016)
This quote provides evidence of the 'hunter gatherer' practices by the Tasmanian Aborigines. The effect of this was a sustainable lifestyle that was quite peaceful and required minimal resources. The Tasmanian bush was their home and they cared for it. They "only had a few simple tools from wood and stone" (The Genocide Association, 2015).
“The Tasmanians were by missionaries and friends of man civilized under the earth.”
(German anthropologist Hellwald)
The Tasmanian Aborigines were considered "friends of man civilized under the earth" by German anthropologist, Hellwald. Never had they come close to harming the environment or themselves as much as the Europeans did when they arrived. This relationship with their environment was interrupted when the Europeans arrived and this was a tragedy because their homelands were damaged and their cultural destroyed.
