Jandamarra war
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The Story of Jandamarra (Pigeon)
Jandamarra, or "Pigeon" as he was known to European settlers, was an infamous "outlaw" in the 1890s.
During that time the European settlers were opening up large parts of the Kimberley. In the process Aboriginal people were driven from their lands, or worse, rounded up, deprived of their freedom and forced to work on the newly established cattle stations.
Aboriginals also could not hunt on their land any more like they used to. The only alternative were of course the new animals the settlers had brought in...
If Aboriginals were caught spearing the sheep or cattle of the settlers, they were chained around the neck, marched to Derby, and forced to work there in chains.
Pigeon belonged to the Bunuba tribe and grew up and lived in the Oscar and Napier Ranges.
Photo by yaruman5.
Like many Aboriginal people at the time, he was forced to work from a young age as a slave for the settlers. During that time he became close friends with an English guy called Richardson.
Jand
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Indigenous Australia
Jandamarra (1870?-1897), Aboriginal leader, was born about 1870 into the Bunuba tribe which occupied mountainous country in the Kimberley district of Western Australia. The Napier and Oscar Ranges presented a barrier which had prevented the pastoral frontier from encroaching on Bunuba territory. As a youth Jandamarra learned to ride horses, shear sheep and use fire-arms on William Lukin's neighbouring Lennard River station and won repute as the district's finest Black stockman. He spoke English confidently. Lukin named him 'Pigeon' because he was small, fleet-footed and had a cheeky but endearing personality.
At 15 he returned to his traditional land for initiation and became a skilful hunter. Late in 1889 he and a fellow tribesman, Ellemarra, were captured by police at Windjina Gorge, chained together and marched to Derby gaol; charges of killing sheep were dropped when Jandamarra agreed to serve the police by taking care of their horses. He won popularity and trust at Derby. A year later he went to Lennard River as a stockman, and then to his mountain home
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Jandamarra
Aboriginal Australian warrior of the late 19th century
This article is about the Aboriginal warrior of the 1800s. For the victim of a 1996 attack, see Tjandamurra O'Shane.
Jandamarra or Tjandamurra (c. 1873–1 April 1897), known to British settlers as Pigeon,[1][2] was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Bunuba people who led one of many organised armed insurrections against the British colonisation of Australia. Initially employed as a tracker for the police, he became a fugitive when he was forced to capture his own people. He led a three-year campaign against police and British settlers, achieving legendary status for his hit and run tactics and his abilities to hide and disappear. Jandamarra was eventually killed by another tracker at Tunnel Creek on 1 April 1897. His body was buried by his family at the Napier Range, where it was placed inside a boab tree. Jandamarra's life has been the subject of two novels, Ion Idriess's Outlaws of the Leopold (1952) and Mudrooroo's Long Live Sandawarra (1972), a non-fiction account based on oral
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