Arabanoo
Top
Was the first Aborigine captured by Captain Arthur Phillip as an experiment in learning the language of the Aborigines and ultimately winning their confidence. Taken at Manly Cove on 31 December 1788, Arabanoo grew reconciled to his captivity and became a celebrity in the settlement. He died of smallpox in May 1789. An account of his activities is in Watkin Tench's A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson (1792). He is fictionally represented in Eleanor Dark's The Timeless Land (1941).
| Applestealers, Anzac, Antithesis | |
| Arabin: Or, the Adventures of a Colonist in New South Wales, Archer Family, Arena |
Top
(c. 1761–89), the first Aboriginal hostage of the British at Port Jackson, resided at the governor's house and in an adjacent hut from December 1788 until his death in May 1789. Because the Eora people avoided the settlement, Governor Phillip decided it was necessary to train an intermediary to demonstrate ‘the many advantages they would enjoy by mixing with us’. A group of Kuringgai-speakers at Manly Cove, clan territory of the Kayimai, was thus enticed to engage with the British seamen, who then seized two of their men. One escaped, but Arabanoo was secured by a rope around his neck, put in a boat, and imprisoned in a convict hut. On a harbour trip, he made a desperate attempt to return to his people by jumping overboard fully clothed.
Historians' opinions reflect the ambivalence of contemporaries towards the captive. He has been portrayed, variously, as a cross between ‘a saint and a regimental mascot’ ((M. Barnard Eldershaw, Phillip of Australia, 1939)); an outsider shunned by his own people ((Isabel McBryde, Guests of the Governor, 1989)); and a proud man who refused to collaborate with the British and was unimpressed by their social organisation ((Jan Kociumbas, Possessions: The Oxford History of Australia, vol. 2, 1992)). Contemporary British commentators wondered whether his mastery of English was impeded by his ability or their poor tutoring. They compared him with the next captive, the extrovert Bennelong. According to Phillip, however, by March 1789, Arabanoo was ‘perfectly satisfied with his situation’ so he was released from all restraints. Captain Watkin Tench dubiously concluded that Arabanoo was consequently the ‘only native’ who ‘attached to us from choice’, and preferred the ‘comforts of a civilized system’ to a ‘precarious subsistence among wilds and precipices’. In fact, Arabanoo was neither saint, resistance fighter, genius, nor converted imperialist, but in his attempts to negotiate two worlds he exhibited impressive adaptability and courage.
Arabanoo's initial reluctance to reveal his name earned him the alias Manly. His usual appearance was transformed by a close haircut, a shaved beard, scrubbed skin, and English clothing. He warmed to friendly treatment by his captors, enjoyed their gifts of fish, duck, and pork, but declined bread, salt meat, and liquor. He dined at a side table of the governor's, and sometimes at his table. He became a keen student of British etiquette and developed good relations with key figures among the ruling elite, especially Governor Phillip, whom he accompanied on boat trips. Despite his circumstances, his independence of mind enabled him to maintain a strong sense of dignity. If insulted, he retaliated swiftly and turned mockery against its instigator.
When an old Aboriginal man and his child were brought up to Sydney Cove in April 1789, both suffering from smallpox, Arabanoo tended them with dedication. Others soon arrived, but only two children survived. Arabanoo caught the disease and died within six days.
Arabanoo led Governor Phillip to reassess the debased ‘savage’ image imparted by earlier British visitors. In time, it was thought he would have been an effective ‘conciliator’ between the different peoples. Phillip attended his funeral and arranged for him to be buried in his private garden. As Hunter commented: ‘Every person in the settlement was concerned for the loss of this man.’
