Woureddy
Woureddy (c.1790 – 7 July 1842), also known as Wurati, Woorady and Mutteelee, was a leading warrior and cleverman from the Nuenonne clan of Aboriginal Tasmanians in Australia.
Woureddy was a highly significant figure in communicating Indigenous culture to Robinson and his disclosures remain a prime source of information about pre-colonial Aboriginal Tasmanian customs.
[6] Woureddy was born around the year 1790 on Nuenonne country which included the region around Bruny Island (Lunawanna-alonnah) and Recherche Bay (Lyleatea) in southern Tasmania.
[7] As a young child he remembered observing the French explorers, led by Rear Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux and Captain Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec arriving in Recherche Bay in 1792.
He remembered the resultant conflict between the invaders and the resident Mouheneena clan who lived there in a village called Kreewer upon which the suburb of Sandy Bay is now located.
By the late 1820s, the British had expanded their hold in Van Dieman's Land (as Tasmania was then known), and established several whaling and lumber stations on Bruny Island.
[1] With the assistance of a local female teenager named Truganini, Robinson initially had some success protecting the Indigenous people at his establishment.
[1] The mission left Bruny Island in early 1830 with Woureddy playing a very important role as a guide and instructor on local Aboriginal language and culture.
[1] Woureddy educated Robinson about the clans of western Van Diemen's Land, whom he regarded with distrust and collectively referred to as the Toogee people.
The mission continued its journey and as it approached the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, Robinson became lost and was saved from death by being located by Truganini and Woureddy.
Called the Black Line, it was a 2,200 man strong chain of armed colonists and soldiers gathered to sweep the settled areas looking to kill or trap any Aboriginal people they found.
[8] They arrived at Cape Portland in October 1830 having rescued several Indigenous women from the slavery of the local sealers, and been joined by the respected warrior Mannalargenna and his small remnant clan.
They were informed of the failure of the Black Line to capture or kill many Aboriginal people and it was decided by the government to use the nearby Bass Strait Islands as a place of enforced exile for those Indigenous Tasmanians collected by Robinson.
[1] While in Hobart, Robinson successfully negotiated a contract with the colonial authorities for him to lead further expeditions to capture all the remaining Aboriginal Tasmanians and transfer them to confinement in Bass Strait.
Robinson captured almost all the remaining Indigenous people of this region, including the clans led by prominent men such as Towterer and Wyne.
Many of the captives, including pregnant woman, old people and children, died in miserable conditions when they were held at the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station while awaiting transportation to Flinders Island.
[1] With the completion of the removal of Aborigines from mainland Tasmania in 1835, Robinson brought his Indigenous guides to his house in Hobart for a few months of respite.
During this period Truganini and Woureddy became celebrities and had their portraits painted by Thomas Bock and the sculptor Benjamin Law also created casts and busts of their profiles.
[7] The remaining Aboriginal Tasmanians in the Port Phillip District, including Woureddy, were rounded up and sent back to Wybalenna on Flinders Island.
His older son, Myunge, survived at Wybalenna and became a leader in Aboriginal self-determination, helping organise a petition to Queen Victoria to improve conditions at the establishment.
Woureddy's interactions with George Augustus Robinson resulted in the translation and documentation of important Indigenous Tasmanian beliefs that would have otherwise been lost.
