William Barak

William Barak
William Barak in 1866
Bornc. March 1823
Brushy Creek, near present-day Wonga Park Victoria, Australia
Died15 August 1903 (1903-08-16) (aged 79)
Coranderrk, Victoria, Australia
Other namesBeruk

William Barak (c. March 1823 – 15 August 1903), named Beruk by his parents, the "last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe", was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder)[1] of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, the pre-colonial inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore.[2]

In his later life Barak painted and drew Wurundjeri ceremonies and carved weapons and tools.[2] He is now considered a significant Aboriginal artist of the nineteenth century.[3]

  1. ^ "William Barak". Visit Victoria home. Tracing Victoria. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b Clark, Ian D. (2015). 'A Peep at the blacks' a history of tourism at Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, 1863-1924. Jan Barabach, Lucrezia Lopez. Warsaw. ISBN 978-3-11-046824-3. OCLC 1269094516.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Sayers, Andrew (1996). Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 13–26. ISBN 9780195539950.