INTO THE HEART OF TASMANIAInto the Heart is a powerful and gripping detective story about Tasmanias deep and recent past and why it matters today. It is a subtle exploration of Aboriginal history, a profound reflection on the place of Tasmania in world conversations about human evolution, and an intriguing journey in quest of understanding. Historian Rebe Taylor pursues an English collector on ship, foot and bicycle as he sets out to plumb the mystery of human origins; she eavesdrops on his conversations and sifts all the clues that he has left behindin Britain and the antipodes, in the archive and the field, in language and places, and in words and stone. As we look over his shoulder, the people he is studying come surprisingly into focus. Perhaps only now can we understand the stories they are trying to tell.
Tom Griffiths, Professor of History and Director,
Centre for Environmental History, Australian National University
MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS
An imprint of Melbourne University Publishing Limited
Level 1, 715 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
www.mup.com.au
First published 2017
Text Rebe Taylor, 2017
Design and typography Melbourne University Publishing Limited, 2017
This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publishers.
Every attempt has been made to locate the copyright holders for material quoted in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked or misattributed may contact the publisher.
Note on front cover: The stone artefact is an illustration of an English eolith (a supposed stone tool) from the 1913 journal paper announcing the discovery of Piltdown Man in Sussex, one of the most infamous hoaxes in science. The John Glover painting depicts Tasmanian Aborigines dancing with Hobart in the distance. Glovers depiction is probably ethnographically correct, but the only place where they could gather in such numbers in 1835 was on Flinders Island, where they had been forcibly removed by the colonial government. See Greg Lehman, 2016, p. 285.
Text design and typesetting by Cannon Typesetting
Cover design by Design by Committee
Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Taylor, Rebe, author.
Into the heart of Tasmania: a search for human antiquity/Rebe Taylor.
9780522867961 (paperback)
9780522867978 (ebook)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Aboriginal TasmaniansHistory.
Aboriginal TasmaniansSocial life and customs.
AnthropologyTasmaniaHistory.
ArchaeologyTasmaniaHistory.
Contents
To Peter, Hugo and Neve.
Author note
With the exception of names of ancestors, Aboriginal names and words in this book appear in lower case. This follows the style of palawa kani, the revived form of the original Tasmanian Aboriginal languages, a program led by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. I respect that some writers prefer to place Tasmanian Aboriginal language names in italics, but for consistency I have used only roman text.
This book uses the terms Aboriginal and Aborigines rather than Indigenous. This is the preference of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. Other names for Aborigines also appear in the context of their times. Some of these names are not, by todays standards, always appropriate. In repeating these names I do not mean any disrespect or to cause offence to present peoples.
Into the Heart of Tasmania also includes scientific theories about, and descriptions of, Aboriginal culture and people that belong to other writers and other times. Some of these theories, like the older names for Aborigines, are not, by todays standards, appropriate. Even some relatively recent scientific ideas may appear culturally insensitive. In quoting these ideas and by repeating older names for Aborigines I do not mean any disrespect or to cause offence to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.
I also wish to remind readers that while this book describes collecting thousands of stone tools, it is illegal to interfere with, or to remove any Aboriginal cultural artefacts from anywhere in Tasmania.
Prologue: The gift
kutalayna, Tasmania, 17 April 2011
The smoke curls around his grey beard, his ochred cheeks, through his curly hair, into his blue eyes. He welcomes it, fans it so it drifts over those gathered around the fire, listening in silence. And then he speaks, softly:
yah ta wah ti wah warrawah (greetings from the spirits).
mena lagata nala neminah tagarilia coyetea nena (I tell you our Earth Mother family loves you).
palingina mouheneenner walantanalinany (welcome to mouheneenner Country all round).
We are here today to heal this place, kutalayna, our community, and everyone in Brighton. We will leave kutalayna in a graceful way to show respect to our ancestors, and ourselves who have conducted our protest with strength and grace.
I ask the spirits to heal kutalayna, heal the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and, all of the people of Brighton. Our struggle has been a long one to protect kutalayna, and our struggle continues.
The construction workers and the police are watching, waiting for the ceremony to end before they start work. Before they arrest him.
He is nearly finished. He takes a packet from his pocket, and opens it with care: ashes, gathered from the fire at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy at Old Parliament House, Canberra, which burns day and night. He spreads them over the crackling branches: This is a symbol of our sovereignty, and pride in our heritage.
It is done. His son falls in by his side. The group circles around them, offering solace and protection. They begin to walk out. The police stand solid in thick leather jackets, black gloves and sky-blue hard hats. The protestors approach slowly. A thin young man dressed only in a white loincloth and his sister in a black singlet and an apron of furs are painted head to toe in ochre; a stark contrast to well-attired police.
They are not allowed to pass. A brave and professional young woman makes a plea for the use of police discretion; they will leave quietly. But the decision has already been made.
He knows this. The standoff is pointless. He asks his community members to stand aside, and to let him and his son pass through, and they are led away to the waiting paddy wagon.
In April 2009 the Tasmanian State Government had begun construction of the Brighton Bypass, a 9.5-kilometre road, costing $191 million, to divert traffic off the Midland Highway, away from the Hobart suburbs of Brighton and Pontville. The bypass would have to cross the Jordan River. The proposed site for a bridge was kutalayna, known to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community as a long-time seasonal meeting place of the mouheneenner people. In September 2009 the protestors had prevented construction starting. Twenty were arrested. By February 2010 the government commissioned archaeologists to determine the age and significance of the site. The University of Melbourne determined an age for the sediments and artefacts at the bottom of the excavation of about 41,000 years. This is the oldest site in Tasmania, and among the oldest in Australia. In fact the age
