Tarraleah, Tasmania, Australia
Tasmania was originally called Anthoonij van Diemenslandt it was sighted by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, but shorted to Van Diemen's Land by the British in 1772. A French exhibition also added to the slew of names being collected for the invaded land. Eventually these names where deemed to have embarrassing links to the islands convict past, so they renamed it it in 1856 to honour its first European discoverer. So much less embarrassing now.
Until these charming white men arrived the Aboriginal occupation is dated back from as early as 34,000 BP, but the British figured, that was probably long enough and all but wiped out the population. Truganini (Trugernanner, Trugernena, Truganina, Trugannini, Trucanini, Trucaminni, and Trucaninny) was a woman who is remembered as the last full blooded Tasmanian, and Fanny Cochrane Smith was the last fluent speaker of the Flinders island lingua franca, a Tasmanian language. The only spoken record of any Tasmanian record is of her recordings on wax cylinders.
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.
Poem by Aborigine Errol West, written about the absence of the Tasmanian Aborigine.
Fanny Cochrane-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0KA1AjwIS4
This rock was taken from Tarraleah, a location in the Big River Nation, The Big River nation numbered 400–500 people consisting of five know clans. Leenowwenne, Pangerninghe, Braylwunyer, Larmairremener, and Luggermairrernerpairrer
Daniel Wilfred and David Wilfred performing mani kay (ceremonial song) in Tarraleah
ictv.com.au/video/item/7137
Invaders-
Dutch
British
French
Australians
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Cochrane_Smith
www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/14/australia.features11
www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/14/australia.features11
from
Rocks I Have Taken,
released April 30, 2020
Maria Sappho, folk songs all taken from the Joan Baez songbook with the execution of 'the blacksmith' by Steeleye Span