Reference no: EM133427064
Assignment:
Truganini (c. 1812 - 8 May 1876) was a woman widely considered to be the last full blood Aboriginal Tasmanian. Her youth was traditional to her culture, but that was interrupted when the first Europeans arrived. Tasmania and all of Australia was colonized by Britain to be a penal colony - a place to send their prisoners. Over time, the colony turned into another resource base for Britain and more Brits arrived to colonize and farm. This arrival brought with it a desire to 'civilize' Indigenous Peoples, where British cultural and societal practices were forced on Indigenous Peoples - a practice coined by British writer, Rudyard Kipling, as "White Man's Burden". In Truganini's case, by the time she met George Augustus Robinson, the "Protector of Aborigines" in 1829, her mother had been killed by sailors, her uncle shot by a soldier, her sister abducted by sealers, and her fiancé brutally murdered by timber-getters, who then repeatedly sexually abused her.
Truganini was one of the last surviving 100 Tasmanian Indigenous peoples that Robinson had moved to the isolation of Flinders Island to "protect" them from the rising conflict with the English colonists. Instead of saving them, many of the Tasmanian Indigenous peoples died of influenza and other diseases.
The music video references and the enrichment presents you with a snippet of the story of Truganini. The life story of Truganini represents the history and legacy of Colonialism for many Australian Indigenous peoples.
Why do you think the band referenced Truganini in their song? What are they trying to imply?
- What are the lyrics asking people to do?
- Consider what purpose the band had in filming their music video as they did in New York City.
- If you were to reshoot this video, how might you do it to reflect both the song's intent AND the information you learned about Truganini?
- Truganini is not the only indigenous individual mentioned in the song. The band also names Albert Namatjira. Research his life online and then reflect on why the band would highlight Namatjira in a song about Truganini.