truthtelling

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.

Sophie Mummig was for Woorabinda, Fortitude Valley, c.1906. Photo by Roland Ruddle. This photo is in the book: "Colonization and Domestic Service: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives" edited by Victoria K. Haskins, Claire Lowrie

Wujal Wujal is an Aboriginal community located in FNQ, originally known as Bloomfield and later the Bloomfield River Mission. Wujal Wujal, meaning ‘many falls’, is part of the traditional homelands of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji nation. The waterfalls are a women’s place and very sacred to the community. The public can only access one of the waterfalls, which is clearly signed. The first recorded European to visit the Bloomfield River was British Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Frederick Bedwell, who accompanied Captain Phillip Parker King on board the HMS Mermaid on a hydrological survey of the east coast of Australia. Gold was discovered in the region in the early 1870s and resulted in a gold rush with thousands of miners setting up camp in the Palmer River area. A tin mining industry was also established in the area. Tensions between miners and pioneer settlers moving into Kuku-Yalanji territories resulted in violent clashes. The establishment of the Bloomfield River Mission was a Queensland Government initiative. It was announced that a reserve on the Bloomfield River had been set aside, 45 miles south of Cooktown in the mid-1880s. The trigger was the rapid development of the region by settlers establishing sugar cane plantations and cattle stations. The Queensland Government declined to make a financial commitment beyond the first year of the Mission’s operation. Instead, the Queensland Government offered the running of Bloomfield River Mission to the Lutherans. The Bloomfield Mission was considered a failure and government subsidies were withdrawn. In August 1900 it was decided that the Mission be wound down. Source: banayirrijiart.com.au/history/