Heroes of Colonial Encounters- Bungaree

Artist Helen S Tiernan (born 1952)

Date2017

Object number00055144

NamePainting

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 305 × 305 × 40 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

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DescriptionAn oil painting of Bungaree by artist Helen S Tiernan as part of a series of works titled 'Heroes of Colonial Encounters'. Bungaree was a Kuringgai man from the area now known as Broken Bay area north of Sydney. He is depicted here wearing European attire, waving a bicorn hat and wearing a gorget likely gifted to him by Governor Lachlan Macquarie whom he befriended when the remainder of his clan moved south and settled at Port Jackson. Bungaree accompanied Matthew Flinders in 1798 on a coastal survey as a guide, interpreter and negotiator with local Indigenous groups. Flinders was the cartographer of the first complete map of Australia and the first European to circumnavigate the continent and advocate the name ‘Australia’. Flinders recognized that Bungaree was ‘a worthy and brave fellow’ who, on more than one occasion, saved the expedition. He was the first person ever recorded in print as being an Australian. Kuringgai people of the Broken Bay area, He was the first person born in Australia to circumnavigate the country, with Matthew Flinders. And he was the first Aborigine to be granted land by the colonial powers, at Mosman in 1815. As part of a series of portraits that make up 'Heroes of Colonial Encounter', this portrait of Bungaree is part of Helen Tiernan's exploration of the singular European view of colonial history and the way Indigenous peoples are depicted as the 'primitive' or 'other'. The portraits she paints of Bennelong, Bungaree, Colby, Bidgee Bidgee, Ballodere and Tommy sees them treated equally as their European contemporaries such as Cook, Joseph Banks, William Bligh, Arthur Philip and Matthew Flinders. All portraits are to hang together on the same wall, equally ornate, equal in style and equal in history. HistoryThis painting of Bungaree by Helen S Tiernan is based on the portrait by Augustus Earle titled 'Portrait of Bungaree, a Native of New South Wales, with Fort Macquarie, Sydney Harbour in Background c.1826.' Bungaree was one of the most mentioned Indigenous men in the early years of the New South Wales colony. Frequently referred to as the 'Chief/King of the Broken Bay Tribe', Bungaree was exceptional in his interactions and relationships with the British colonists. He befriended Governor Macquarie who came to recognise and value not only Bungaree's remarkable language skills but also his abilities in diplomacy between the colonists and Indigenous peoples. It is also recorded that Bungaree was one of the first residents of Sydney to meet visiting ships when they came to port. While Governor Macquarie valued and utilised Bungaree's skills, Bungaree chose when and how he engaged them. Bungaree became well known for his association with Mathew Flinders whom he met in 1799 and later accompanied on the first circumnavigation of what would become known as Australia. As a consequence Bungaree became the first person born in the country to circumnavigate it. Bungaree sailed later with Captain Phillip Parker King on his coastal survey. Although Bungaree became well versed in the ways of the new inhabitants and took to wearing elements of European dress, he remained very much a Kuringgai man and a respected elder amongst his people. The last years of Bungaree's life were spent in Sydney on the land now known as The Domain. He died on Wednesday 24 November 1830 and was buried at Rose Bay. SignificanceThis work is significant in providing a dual perspective of histories and first encounters in Australia and through the Pacific. Most post-colonial art takes its subject from earlier colonial times, but this doesn’t mean their interests are purely historical. To the contrary, the point of post-colonialism is to show how many unresolved issues from colonial history are embedded in the present.