Yagan

Yagan (c.1795–July 11 1833) was an Australian Aborigine warrior who played a key part in early indigenous resistance to white colonial rule around the area of Perth, Western Australia. His death at the hands of a white settler has passed into Western Australian folklore as a symbol of the unjust and sometimes brutal treatment of the indigenous peoples of Australia by early colonial settlers. Following his death, his head was removed and taken to Britain; in recent times, its return and proper burial has become a source of great controversy and conflict amongst Aboriginal people in the Perth area.

Contents

1 Yagan's Life 2 Yagan's Head 3 Alas, Poor Yagan 4 Yagan's statue 5 External links 6 Notes 7 References

Yagan's Life

Nothing is known of Yagan's early life, except that he was the son of Midgegooroo, who belonged to a Noongar tribal group that occupied the land south of the Swan and Canning rivers known as Beeliar. Yagan would have been about 35 years old in 1829 when British settlers landed in the area and established the Swan River Colony.

Yagan initially had good relations with the white settlers, helping to distribute goods and rations received as compensation for the use of land by the settlers. He was quick to learn the settlers' language and customs, and this earned him high standing in the colony. Eighteen months after the English settlers landed, Yagan held a corroboree at the Swan River, to which he invited both Noongars from all over the South West, and many of the white settlers including Governor James Stirling.

However as time passed the white settlers increasingly encroached on the Noongars' traditional lands, threatening their way of life. As their land was taken up by settlers growing crops and vegetables, the Noongars started taking crops. When kangaroos were displaced by cattle, the Noongars started spearing and eating cattle. Under English law this was theft, and offenders were shot. Yagan issued a warning to the governor, that under Aboriginal law they would take a life for a life, but to no avail.

The first significant Aboriginal resistance to white settlement in Western Australia occurred in December 1831 when a farmer's servant ambushed some natives who were raiding a potato patch, shooting dead one of Yagan's friends. A few days later, Yagan, Midgegooroo and others broke through the mudbrick walls of the farmhouse and speared the occupant, another servant, to death. Six months later, Yagan again led a party of Aborigines in an attack on labourers at the same farm, killing one. In response to this, Yagan was declared an outlaw with a reward of £20 offered for his capture.

In early October 1832, Yagan and two of his friends were captured by some fishermen, who enticed them into their boat and then pushed off into deep water. Yagan was sentenced to death, but he was saved by the intercession of a settler named Robert Lyon, who argued that Yagan was not a criminal but a prisoner of war, and was entitled to be treated as such. At the recommendation of John Septimus Roe, Yagan and his friends were instead exiled on Carnac Island at the governor's pleasure, under the supervision of Lyon and two soldiers. Lyon was convinced that he could civilise Yagan and convert him to Christianity, and hoped to use his tribal standing to obtain the Noongahs' acceptance of white authority. To this end, Lyon spent many hours with Yagan learning his language. However his efforts were cut short when, after a month, Yagan and two of his companions escaped by stealing an unattended dinghy and rowing to the mainland.

No attempt was made to recapture Yagan; apparently the Government considered that he had been sufficiently punished. However his behaviour continued to threaten the colonists, and in March 1833 the Perth Gazette reported

for the most trivial offence... he would take the life of any man who provoked him. He is at the head and front of any mischief.

On the night of 29 April, a party of Noongars including Yagan and Midgegooroo went into Fremantle to collect their rations. While there, they broke into a Fremantle store to steal some flour, but were caught by a settler who fired on them, killing Yagan's brother Domjum. The rest of the party retreated from Fremantle to the east, passing a settler to whom they called out that they would soon spear a white man. On arriving at Bull Creek, the party encountered a party of settlers on the road from Fremantle to Kelmscott, who were loading some carts with provisions. The next morning, the group ambushed the lead cart, spearing to death two white men, Tom and John Velvick. Tribal law only required a single death; the native Munday later explained that both were speared because they had previously mistreated Aboriginal people. The Velvicks had previously been convicted for assaulting Aboriginal people and coloured seamen. Hasluck (1961) also argues that a desire to steal the provisions was an important motive in the murder.

For the murder of the Velvicks, the Lieutenant-Governor Frederick Irwin declared Yagan and Midgegooroo outlaws, and offered a reward of £30 for Yagan's capture dead or alive. Midgegooroo was captured just four days later, and after a brief trial was executed by firing squad. Yagan, however, remained at large for over two months.

Late in May, Yagan was seen by George Fletcher Moore, and the two held a conversation in pidgin English. Yagan then spoke in his own language; Moore (1884) wrote:

Yagan stepped forward and leaning with his left hand on my shoulder while he gesticulated with the right, delivered a sort of recitation, looking earnestly into my face. I regret that I could not understand it. I thought from the tone and manner that the purport was this:-

You came to our country; you have driven us from our haunts, and disturbed us in our occupations. As we walk in our own country we are fired upon by the white men; why should the white men treat us so?

Since Moore had little knowledge of Yagan's native language, Hasluck (1961) suggests that this conjecture is probably more indicative of a feeling of conscience on the part of the white men than an accurate rendering of Yagan's state of mind. Moore made no attempt to capture Yagan, other than to report the sighting to the nearest magistrate; he wrote

The truth is, every one wishes him taken, but no one likes to be the captor... there is something in his daring which one is forced to admire.

On July 11 1833, two teenage brothers named William and James Keates were herding cattle along the Swan River just north of Guildford when a group of Noongars approached on their way to collect their rations of flour. Being on friendly terms with Yagan, they suggested he remain with them to avoid arrest. Yagan remained with them all morning, during which time the boys decided to kill Yagan and claim the reward. William Keates tried once to shoot him but the gun stopped at half-cock; no further opportunity arose before they were rejoined by the other natives. When the natives attempted to depart, the Keates took their last opportunity. William Keates shot Yagan, and James shot another native, Heegan, in the act of throwing his spear. Both boys then ran for the river, but William was overtaken and speared to death. James escaped by swimming the river, and returned shortly afterwards with a party of armed settlers.

The party of settlers arrived to find Yagan dead and Heegan dying. Heegan was summarily shot dead. Yagan's head was removed and placed in the wedge of a smoking tree in order to preserve it. His back was skinned to obtain his tribal markings as a trophy. James Keates successfully claimed the reward but his actions were widely criticised; the Perth Gazette referred to Yagan's murder as

a wild and treacherous act... it is revolting to hear this lauded as a meritorious deed.

Yagan's Head

Yagan's head was pickled, and then taken to Britain by Ensign Robert Dale, where in 1834 it was displayed throughout the country as the head of the "Chief of the Swan River". In September of that year it was presented to a scientist named T. J. Pettigrew, who made phrenological observations. It eventually became the property of the Liverpool Royal Institution, who put it on display at the Liverpool Museum. By the 1960s, Yagan's head was badly deteriorated, and in 1964 it was buried in a local cemetery along with a Peruvian mummy and a Maori head. In later years, a number of burials were made around the grave, and a local hospital buried the bodies of 21 stillborn babies directly over the box containing Yagan's head.

For many years, a number of Noongar groups sought the return of Yagan's head, because

It is Aboriginal belief that because Yagan's skeletal remains are incomplete, his spirit is earthbound. The uniting of his head and torso will immediately set his spirit free to continue its eternal journey. (Ken Colbung)

Ken Colbung lobbied for its return for many years, and in 1997 led a delegation to the United Kingdom to negotiate for its return. However the Home Office stalled the matter because of the objections of a number of parents who did not want the remains of their babies disturbed. Eventually, with the aid of state-of-the-art geophysical surveying equipment, Yagan's head was located and successfully exhumed without disturbing any other remains. However it was not immediately handed over because a Noongar named Corrie Bodney, who claimed to be Yagan's last living relative, applied for a court injunction, claiming that the exhumation was illegal, and denying the existence of any tradition or belief necessitating the head's exhumation and removal to Australia. This injunction was eventually lifted, and the head handed over.

On its return to Perth, Yagan's head continued to be a source of controversy and conflict. The burial of Yagan's head was delayed by disputes between elders over the burial location, due to uncertainty of the whereabouts of the rest of his body and disagreement about the importance of burying the head with the body. For some time the head was stored in a bank vault, and more recently it was in the hands of forensic experts who were reconstructing a model from it. To date the head remains unburied.

A number of attempts have been made to locate the remains of Yagan's body, but these have all been unsuccessful. Some Noongar groups believe that the remains are on a property on West Swan Road in Upper Swan, near All Saints Church. In 1998 the Western Australian Planning Commission and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs published a document entitled Yagan's gravesite master plan, which discussed matters of ownership, management, development and future use of the property. In March 2005 Noongar elder Kevin Cameron said that he believed the body was buried at that location, and accused the group that had the head of deferring its burial in the hope of making money out of it with elaborate parks and monuments. He said that he wanted to reunite the head and body before Western Australian aborigines were "hit with more bad luck". Another elder, Richard Wilkes, chairman of the "Committee for the Reburial of Yagan's Kaat (head)" responded by claiming that the Noongars who had possession of the head had direct kinship lines to Yagan and wanted the head buried properly, but had been delayed by searches and burial site negotiations. He claimed that the head could be buried separately from the body, so long as it was placed where he was killed, so that Dreamtime spirits could reunite the remains.

Alas, Poor Yagan

In September 1997 The West Australian published a Dean Alston cartoon entitled Alas, Poor Yagan, which was critical of the fact that the return of Yagan's head had become a source of conflict between Noongars, instead of fostering unity. The cartoon could also be interpreted as casting aspersions on the motives and legitimacy of Aborigines with mixed racial heritage. The content of the cartoon offended many Aborigines, and the elder Robert Bropho levelled accusations of racism against The West Australian. Eventually the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission ruled that the cartoon made inappropriate references to Noongar beliefs but did not breach racial discrimination law. This ruling was upheld on appeal by the Federal Court of Australia.

Yagan's statue

In 1984, a statue of Yagan was erected at Heirisson Island in Perth. Since 1997, when the return of Yagan's head raised public awareness of the story, vandals have repeatedly beheaded the statue and stolen the head.

External links

• Dean Alston's Alas Poor Yagan cartoon (http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/impi/articles/yagan2.jpg) from The West Australian (Saturday 6 September 1997).

Notes

1. Dale (1834), from which this image is taken, states that Yagan's features shrank very much during smoking. On being sent a copy of Dale (1834), George Fletcher Moore commented that this image bears very little resemblance to the living face of Yagan, which was plump, with a burly-headed look about it (Moore, 1884).

References

• Bourke, Michael (1987). Chapter 3: Yagan 'The Patriot' and 'Governor' Weeip in On the Swan. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. ISBN 0855642580.
• Dale, Robert (1834). Descriptive account of the panoramic view &c. of King George's Sound and the adjacent country.
• Green, Neville (1979). Yagan, the patriot. in Hunt, Lyall (ed). Westralian Portraits. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. ISBN 0855641576.
• Hasluck, Alexandra (1961). Yagan, the Patriot. in Early Days V(VII). Perth, Australia.
• Lampathakis, Paul (2005). Hunt for Yagan narrows. The Sunday Times 6 March 2005.
• Moore, George Fletcher (1884). Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia, and also a Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines. M. Walbrook, London. Facsimile Edition published in 1978 by University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. ISBN 0855641371.