William Barak

William Barak (or Beruk) (c. 1824 – 15 August 1903), was a traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, first inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore. In his later life Barak painted and drew Wurundjeri ceremonies and carved weapons and tools for an audience of local settlers and international tourists.[1] He is now considered a significant Aboriginal artist of the nineteenth century.[2]

William Barak in 1866

Biography

Early life

Barak was born in 1824 at Brushy Creek near present-day Wonga Park at the Barngeong Birthing Site,[3] in the country of the Wurundjeri people. His mother, Tooterrie, came from the Nourailum bulluk at Murchison, Victoria. His father, Bebejern, was an important member of the Wurundjeri clan. Barak was said to have been present as a boy when John Batman met with the tribal elders to "purchase" the Melbourne area in 1835.[4] Before he died he described witnessing the signing of the treaty in a ceremony he called a tanderem.

Ninggalobin, Poleorong and Billibellary were the leading song makers and principal Wurundjeri leaders in the Melbourne region. European colonisation had caused disruptions to initiation ceremonies. In response these three men gathered at South Yarra in the late 1830s and inducted the young Barak into Aboriginal lore. This entailed formally presenting him with the symbols of manhood: strips of possum skin tied around his biceps; the gombert (reed necklace) around his neck; given his ilbi-jerri, a sharp and narrow bone or nose-peg; and his branjep, the apron worn by men to cover their genitals. At the end of the ceremony Barak presented his uncle, Billibellary, a possumskin cloak.[5]

Barak attended the government's Yarra Mission School from 1837 to 1839.

When he joined the Native Mounted Police in 1844, he was given the name of William Barak. He was Police Trooper No.19.

Leader and spokesperson

In early 1863, Barak moved to Coranderrk Station, near Healesville, Victoria with about thirty others.

Upon the death of Simon Wonga in 1875, Barak became the Ngurungaeta of the clan. He worked tirelessly for his people and was a successful negotiator on their behalf. He was a highly respected man and leader, with standing amongst the Indigenous people and the European settlers.[6] In the role of Ngurungaeta Barak developed relationships with key colonial figures including governors, politicians and men and women who became his friends and patrons.[7] Anne Fraser Bon was a long time supporter and friend of Barak, including during the campaigns to prevent the closure of Coranderrk reserve.[8] Graham Berry likewise was a key contact during the 1880s when settler interests sought to have Coranderrk closed. Barak was also welcomed at government house by Sir Henry Brougham Loch.[7]

Later life
Figures in possum-skin cloaks, 1898 by William Barak.

In 1882 Barak's wife and child passed away from consumption. At this time he provided key information on Kulin traditions and kinship to anthropologist Alfred William Howitt. From the 1880s until his death Barak painted and drew, using a combination of European and Kulin materials and techniques. His subject matter was the ceremonies and stories of his people, which he preserved in his artworks.

Barak died at Coranderrk in 1903 and is buried at the Coranderrk cemetery. He was about 85 years old.[9]

Legacy
Barak drawing a corroboree

Barak is remembered for his artworks, which show both traditional Indigenous life and encounters with Europeans. Most of Barak's drawings were completed at Coranderrk during the 1880s and 1890s. They are now highly prized and exhibited in leading public galleries in Australia.[10] Ceremony (1895) is housed at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, donated by Anne Fraser Bon.[11] Bon's donation to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery represents the first Indigenous artwork to enter a major public art gallery.[12] Other state and national galleries also include one or more paintings by Barak in their collections, including the South Australian Museum,[13] State Library of Victoria,[14] Museums Victoria, National Museum of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, and QAGOMA.[15]

Barak's paintings are also located in international collections including the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, the Völkerkundemuseum Herrnhut, and the Musée D’ethnographie De Neuchâtel.[16]

In 2003 the National Gallery of Victoria held an exhibition Remembering Barak to commemorate his life and work.[17] An education resource was developed to accompany the exhibition.[18]

In 2004 Nillumbik Shire Council registered the place name Barak Bushlands, previously known as the Falkiner Street Reserve, along the Diamond Creek in Eltham.[19]

In 2005 a 525-metre footbridge called the "William Barak bridge" was constructed stretching from Birrarung Marr to the MCG, improving the link between some of Melbourne's biggest sports and entertainment venues and the heart of the CBD. In 2006 a permanent sound installation called "Proximities" was installed on the bridge. It was designed by David Chesworth and Sonia Leber. Its central section features a welcome song sung in Woiwurrung by Wurundjeri Elder, and Barak's descendant, Joy Murphy Wandin.

In 2011 Barak was inducted on to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Roll.[20]

Barak's grave and headstone at Coranderrk cemetery

In 2015 a 279-foot-tall (85-metre-tall) image of Barak was used to form the facade of an apartment building called Swanston Square in Melbourne, Australia. The portrait is formed by the white balconies against a black wall.[21]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Sayers, Andrew (1996). Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 13–26. ISBN 9780195539950.
  3. Bish, Phillip (10 August 2020). Lot 3 Holloway Road. Chirnside Park. p. <!04 or pages= 06>.
  4. "A KING AT CORANDERRK". The Australasian. Vol. LXIII, no. 1656. Victoria, Australia. 25 December 1897. p. 25. Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen, pp52, People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days, Merri Creek Management Committee, 2001 ISBN 0-9577728-0-7
  6. "KING WILLIAM BARAK". The Australasian. Vol. LXXV, no. 1951. Victoria, Australia. 22 August 1903. p. 32. Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. Shaw, Ethel (1949). Early days among the Aborigines: the story of Yelta and Coranderrk missions. Fitzroy, Vic: W. & J. Barr. p. 26.
  8. "BARAK". Kalgoorlie Miner. 18 December 1931. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  9. "DEATH OF KING WILLIAM BARAK". The Age. No. 15, 113. Victoria, Australia. 17 August 2000. p. 4. Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. Vanderbyl, Nikita. "Explainer: the importance of William Barak's Ceremony". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  11. "Ceremony; William BARAK; Circa 1895; 1934.5 on eHive". eHive. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  12. McLean, Ian (2016). Rattling Spears: A History of Indigenous Australian Art. London: Reakton. p. 56. ISBN 9781780239873.
  13. "Figures in possum skin cloaks and lyrebird". www.samuseum.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  14. Vanderbyl, Nikita (2019). "William Barak's Paintings at State Library Victoria" (PDF). La Trobe Journal. 103: 6–23.
  15. "BARAK, William | QAGOMA Collection Online". collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  16. "Musée d'Ethnographie de Neuchâtel: Accueil". www.men.ch. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  17. "Remembering Barak | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  18. "Remembering Barak: Education Resource" (PDF). National Gallery of Victoria. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  19. "Notice of Registration of Geographic Names" (PDF). Victorian Government Gazette. 15 April 2004.
  20. "William Barak". www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  21. Portrait of indigenous leader etched into 31-storey Melbourne building, 4 March 2015, retrieved 24 May 2016


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