Benjamin Duterrau, The Conciliation (1840) (TMAG).

 

 

With Archie trying to spot other Indigenous people and scanning maps

for Indigenous names, I visited the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

(TMAG). I normally don’t pay any attention to works I dislike and I

certainly haven’t written about them, but I’ve been preoccupied

with The Conciliation. I suspect it’s the art-equivalent of watching

a car crash. In addition to the accompanying works on paper, or

studies I suppose of connected Indigenous Tasmanians, showing for

example Woureddy’s resplendent ochre dusted dreadlocks; what’s

particularly compelling is that The Conciliation very clearly depicts

Indigenous Tasmanians not amidst flora and fauna, but rather their

distinct identities.

 

Duterrau's, The Conciliation is credited (namely William Moore, a

critic and historian of the time) as the first historical epic

painting in Australia. The painting depicts George Augustus Robinson

with Indigenous Australians including Woureddy and his daughter

Truganini. Two of the most celebrated Indigenous Tasmanians. In

particular, a meeting with the so-called ‘Protector of Aborigines’

in Van Diemen’s Land. Post Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur

announcing the Black War (1830), Truganini (Sinaud O’Connor on

right), who would have feared further reprisals and concerned with

the safety of her people, was persuaded by Robinson to assist or

guide him. However, she was betrayed as part of a broader plan to re-

settle them at Wybaleen, a kind of death camp on Flinders Island

(1830-37). Also known as the Black Line: the attempted genocide of

the Indigenous Tasmanians.

 

Before Truganini was seventeen, her mother Tanleboueyer had been

killed by whalers, her uncle had been shot by a soldier, three of her

sisters had been abducted and sold to sealers (one of whom was later

shot) and her betrothed Paraweena, was drowned in the Channel by

timber sawyers. Truganini was part of a guerilla war campaign (1838)

at Port Philip, Victoria with a group of other Tasmanians - the men

were recaptured and executed in Melbourne's first public execution,

and her husband died during their return.

 

Tragedy after tragedy: Truganini and the remaining 45 people were

moved from Wybaleena to Oyster Cove (1847). Even posthumously her

skeleton was displayed at the Tasmanian Museum (until 1951). It

wasn’t until 100 years after her death (1976) that, in accordance

with her wishes, her remains were finally cremated and scattered near

Oyster Cove, near her traditional country in the D'Entrecasteaux

Channel, south of Hobart. Even today, samples of her skin and hair

continue to be sourced and returned.

 

Benjamin Law also produced busts of Woureddy and Truganini, which are

the earliest major pieces of Australian sculpture. Woureddy’s

portrays a hunter, a warrior, or a Greek hero in kangaroo skin (Mary

Mackay), whereas Truganini’s could be the most emotional colonial

portrait of an Indigenous person. According to a colonial account,

she is ‘sorrowing, mourning the slain members of her family’ and

people.

 

For me, Robinson, historically the focal point, and his glowing white

pants appears transplanted. Instead today, The Conciliation’s focal

point is rather dominated and overwhelmed by ‘the Others’,

embedded with legends and the premeditated deception against them;

but especially Truganini and her burden.

Done