kingplates

36 photos tagged kingplates, from 1 member of Flickr Commons.

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16
1895
1940

 

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Man, wearing a breastplate, poses for a studio portrait, Queen Street, Brisbane, 1884

from State Library of Queensland

  • Vesna Verencevic said:
    Aboriginal breastplates (also called king plates or aboriginal gorgets) were a form of regalia used in pre-Federation Australia by white colonial authorities to recognise those they perceived to be local Aboriginal leaders. The breastplates were usually metallic crescent-shaped plaques worn around the neck by the wearer. Aboriginal people did not traditionally have kings or chiefs. They lived in small clan groups with several elders—certain older men and women—who consulted with each other on decisions for the group. By appointing kings of tribes, and granting them king plates, the white colonial powers went against the more collegiate grain of traditional Aboriginal culture. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_breastplate#:~:text=Abor...(also%20called%20king,around%20the%20neck%20by%20wearer.

Three Aboriginal men, one man wearing a king plate, camped alongside a track, ca. 1900

from State Library of Queensland