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Bennelong was a young Aboriginal from the Cadigal tribe of New Holland (Australia) who was the second young Aboriginal to be captured by Governor Arthur Phillip. Bennelong escaped after six months, during which time he had developed some knowledge of the English language and had developed a taste for wine and good stories.
Later Bennelong went back voluntarily to live with Governor Phillip at Government House. Later he and another Cadigal tribesman, Yammerawannie, accompanied Governor Phillip to England. There they received a lot of attention and lived with luxuries totally unknown in their tribal life.
Soon, however, they realised that they were objects of curiosity and would never be accepted as equals. Yammerawannie got homesick and died of pneumonia. Bennelong eventually returned to Australia where he lived in Sydney and advised Governors on Aboriginal matters.
However, life was not easy for Bennelong. His own people rejected him for being too much a white man yet he was not really accepted by English people. Eventually he realised he fitted neither culture and became an alcoholic. He was killed in a tribal fight in 1813. Bennelong Point, where the Opera House now stands in Sydney, was named after him.
For more, read:
Adapted from:
Parbury, N. (1986). Survival: a history of Aboriginal life in New South Wales. P. 48 Sydney: Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs (New South Wales).
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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