1. Changes made to presentation (in light of peer review feedback )
Most of our peer feedback focused on how we presented rather than the content therefore we have made little changes to our content and have recognised ways we could improve our presentation skills.
The main change we made to our presentation was trying to involve our audience particularly through engaging them with our questions.
Other changes we made include adding some more specific details about Truganini’s early life, specifically explaining our classroom activity (in notes section), detailing the ethical considerations when teaching this topic and why we chose drama to do this.
***Writing in bold indicates our changes after peer reviews.

2. Truganini & Mathinna Their Story
Our Presentation is on two Tasmanian Aboriginal women, Truganini and Mathinna and how their stories have informed our understanding of racism today.
Questions- Before we begin, has anyone heard of Truganini or Mathinna? Would anyone like to share what they do know about either of them?
***Writing in bold indicates our changes after peer reviews.
Caitlin Duggan & Rebecca White

3. Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community as the traditional and original owners and continuing custodians of this land.
CULTURAL PROTOCOLS & SAFETY ISSUES
As we are Non-Indigenous we have tried to respect the rights and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people however we apologise for any statements which may be culturally incorrect.
Please note that the following presentation contains deceased Aboriginals.
We will let you read the acknowledgement of country yourselves. Wait 20 seconds.
We will warn you that the following presentation does present some traumatic information and pictures of deceased Aboriginal people, would anyone prefer that we show the presentation without the images? If you feel you do need to leave the room at any time, please do so.

4. Mathinna’s Story Truganini’s Story Presentation Summary
( )
- Childhood and adoption
- Abandonment
- ’The girl in the red dress’
- Short lived life
How they have informed our understanding of racism
Classroom activity
Truganini’s Story
( )
Family and background
Key events
Meeting Robinson
Mission to Flinders Island
Oyster Cove
Resting Place
Bec is going to run you through Truganini’s story then I will run you through Mathinna’s and we will then compare the two stories while looking at how both women have informed our understanding of racism. We will finish with our classroom activity.

5. (Trugernanner, Trukanini, Trucanini)
Truganini
(Trugernanner, Trukanini, Trucanini)
Early Life
Born in Bruny Island.
Daughter of Mangana, Chief of the Bruny Island people.
She took part in a traditional Aboriginal upbringing.
(Florek, 2011)
-Truganini is one of the best known Tasmanian Aboriginal women not only of colonial times but in history (Florek, 2011).
-She was born on Bruny Island in 1812 in which she was part of the Nuenonne group (Florek, 2011), (Link). Her father was Mangana, chief and elder of the south-east Bruny Island people (Alexander, 2006) who she gained skills of leadership from.
-Truganini grew up with a traditional Aboriginal upbringing (Australian Encyclopedia, 2007), including gathering food and making shell necklaces (Florek, 2011).
-This traditional Aboriginal upbringing was interrupted when she was about 17, in March1829 due to European invasion/settlement (Ryan & Smith, 1976).
- ***Truganini was renamed Lalla Rookh by the Europeans (Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia, 1994).

6. Truganini with husband Woorady.
Family background
Truganini with husband Woorady.
-By age 17 Truganini had lost most of her family due to the violent acts of European settlers.
-Her mother was killed by whalers, her uncle had been shot by a soldier and 3 of her sisters had been abducted and sold to sealers (Australian Encyclopedia, 2007).
-Her first fiance was also killed by wood cutters, who drowned him in the Channel after saving her from being abducted after which she was repeatedly raped (Australian Encyclopedia, n.d.)
-During this time the Black War was going on and Truganini was being held at the Missionary Bay station on Bruny Island (Florek, 2011). This is where she met and married her husband Woorady (Alexander, 2006).
Due to European invasion Truganini witnessed violent and traumatic acts by the time she was 17 (Florek, 2011).
These brutalities included members of her family (Ryan & Smith, 1976).

7. Key Events – meeting George Augustus Robinson
George Augustus Robinson was the protector of Aborigines.
George Augustus Robinson was the protector of Aborigines.
His ‘friendly mission’
European authorities gave Robinson the task of searching for Tasmanian Aboriginal people and move them to Flinders Island.
George Arthur was a Lieutenant-Governor who arrived in Van Diemens Land with the intent to capture Aboriginal people and place them in camps.
Truganini was placed in Robertson’s care at the Missionary Bay station (Florek, 2011).
Truganini accompanied Robinson in his travels to Flinders Island and Port Phillip (now part of Melbourne) (Florek, 2011).
Woorady and Truganini travelled around Tasmania with Robinson from They guided Robinson teaching them their language and customs (Alexander, 2006).
Robinson wrote a number of journals about his days alongside Truganini, which offer an authentic history of the events which took place during these times.

8. Mission to flinders Island
Truganini and Woorady accompanied Robinson on this mission.
Truganini helped with this mission in hope to re-settle them safely on Flinders Island.
They believed that they would be safe protected from settlers, provided with food and shelter.
Truganini saved Robinson from death
They gathered around one hundred Aboriginal people to travel with them to Flinders Island.
Unfortunately many of them died along the way due to influenza and diseases (AU3, n.d.).
Play video from 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes 24 seconds.

9. Flinders Island
When Truganini arrived at Flinders Island she was shocked to find that the ‘new settlement’ was in fact more like a prison or death camp.
Truganini realised that Robinson’s promise was false and misleading as those who survived to Flinders Island were forced into European ways of life, many of them taught to be farmers (Ryan & Smith, 1976).
Due to this and the shock of resettlement and unsanitary conditions which led to malnutrition and illness the majority of Aboriginal people died.
Truganini warned other Aboriginal people to stay away as she knew that they would ultimately die.
In 1839 she travelled again with Robinson and Woorady to Port Philip in Melbourne to help the settle mainland Aboriginal people (Florek, 2011). They could not help Robinson like last time as they did not speak the language of the Aboriginal people in Port Philip.
She became a part of a guerrilla war campaign at Port Philip with a group of other Tasmanian Aboriginal people (Australian Encyclopedia, 2007).
This got her in to trouble as she and four other Aboriginies were charged with murder. Two of the men were hanged for this and the three women including Truganini were sent back to Flinders Island with Woorady, who died on the way (Ryan & Smith, 1976).
Question – Prompt students to respond to the question
Do you think Robinson thought he was protecting the Aboriginal people? Why/why not?

10. How does this image portray Aboriginal people?
Oyster Cove
The 45 remaining Aboriginal people at Flinders Island were moved to Oyster Cove in 1847 (Australian Encyclopedia, 2007).
Some of the living conditions were worse however she was able to participate in some elements of her original Aboriginal lifestyle including diving for shellfish (Alexander, 2006).
Settlement in Oyster Cove was not successful as by 1869 she was one of only two ‘full bloods’ still alive (Alexander, 2006).
Truganini moved to Hobart Town in 1874 where she would live her final years until her death in 1876 (Ryan & Smith, 1976).
Question- Prompting questions for students; do these people look happy, sad? Do they look like they want to have this photo taken? What does their clothing tell you about assimilation?
How does this image portray Aboriginal people?
How does their facial expressions show how they feel about living at Oyster Cove?

11. RESTING PLACE
What does the way Truganini’s body was treated say about the respect non-indigenous people had for Aboriginal people at that time?
Do you think this has changed?
Do you consider Truganini to be an inspirational woman? Why/why not?
Despite her pleas to colonial authorities for a respectful burial she was buried at the Old Female Penitentiary at the Cascades in Hobart (Ryan & Smith, 1876).
Her body was then exhumed in 1878 (Ryan & Smith, 1976).
Her body was then put on display in the Hobart Museum until 1947 (Florek, 2011).
After protests from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people it was taken from display and locked in the museum stores (Florek, 2011).
On the centenary of her death the Palawa people reclaimed her remains, had them cremated and scattered over the D’Entrecasteux Channel close to her birth place (Florek, 2011).
Question to prompt students - Why do you think that people did not respect Truganini’s wishes?
Truganini’s legacy will always be remembered. Her courage and commitment over some of the harshest and most brutal years emphasises the strong spirit of Aboriginal people.

12. How did Truganini’s journey support Aboriginal culture?
Questions
How did Truganini’s journey support Aboriginal culture?
Why should Truganini be remembered?
Do you think Truganini should have helped Robinson? Why/why not?
Prompt students to share their answers to these questions. This should be a thorough discussion which has been built up through the other questions throughout the presentation.

13. Mathinna
Born 1835 on Flinders island Birth name was Mary her tribe was captured in 1840 and Mary was separated from her family (Russell, 2012)
Mathinns was born 1835 on Flinders Island to Chief of the Lowreene tribe, Towgerer, and his wife Wongerneep. She was one of the first ever children to be born on Flinders Island and her birth name was Mary. Not much is known about Mathinnas early life until her tribe was captured, when Mary was five, by George Augustus Robinson ( ), the Chief Protector of Aboriginal people, and she was separated from her parents.

14. Childhood and Adoption
Adopted Mathinna in 1941
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Lady Jane Franklin Sir John Franklin
Why did they adopt Mathinna? What does it say about Sir John the Governor? Or even about them both as European Settlers? What would everyone else be thinking at the time?
The Governor of the colony in Van Diemen’s Land was John Franklin, and in 1839 he and his wife Jane visited the Aboriginal settlement at Wybalenna on Flinders Island. They inspected the place and were entertained by the Aborigines with song and dance, and they gave out gifts of beads, handkerchiefs, knives, and marbles. Two years later the Governor and his Lady returned to Wybalenna, and this time they arranged for the child Mary who was now six, to live with them at Government House in Hobart Town.
Lady Franklin took a particular interest to Mary and renamed her Mathinna and Mathinna was raised with their daughter Eleanor and lived at Government House.
The Hobart Mercury's report of Mathinna, one of the very few written records of the girl, said Mathinna arrived at Government House with a kangaroo skin, a rush basket, some shell necklaces and a pet possum (Raabus, 2011).
Questions- Say each question individually and continue to next question once a response has been given

15. Abandonment
Mathinna wrote a letter about her life at Government House compared to her life on Flinders Island.
Sir John Franklin was recalled to England in 1843, after Mathinna had been with the family for only two years.
Mathinna was left at Queen’s Orphan School in Hobart.
Mathinna was sent back to Flinders Island in 1844 but later returned to the orphanage.
In 1851, at the age of sixteen, Mathinna was located at Oyster Cove (Raabus, 2011).
Do you think Mathinna had a good upbringing? Parts of her life maybe?
Mathinna was settling into life well with the Franklin’s, often seen with Lady Franklin or her daughter Eleanor. Mathinna wrote a letter about her time at Government House and I will read you a part of this letter: "I am good little girl, I have pen and ink cause I am a good little girl I have got a red frock like my father. I have got shoes and stockings and I am very glad.”
While Mathinna was enjoying her new life with the Franklin's, it was all turned upside down when Sir John Franklin was needed in England. Mathinna was now an Orphan and found it difficult to adjust to her new surroundings and was therefore sent back to Flinders Island. However
However Mathinna was treated very badly by the preacher of Wybalenna on Flinders Island and was therefore returned to the orphanage. By the age of 16 Mathinna was at the Aboriginal settlement of Oyster Cove, west of Hobart.
Mathinna never seemed to have settled into any community after her experience with the Franklins.
Questions- Ask question to class and get students to extend their thinking, e.g why/why not?

16. Portrait – The girl in the red dress
Is this a traditional photo of an Aboriginal child? Why/why not?
What can you see in this picture? What is her body language telling us?
Portrait by Thomas Brock in 1842 when Mathinna was 7 years old (Russell, 2012).
Thomas Brock painted this portrait of Mathinna just before the Franklin’s left for England. The portrait deliberately shows her bare feet, portrayed to emphasize her traditional dress code, a celebration of her true culture. However the red dress represents Mathinna as part of a European family and the clothes she was given to wear.
Questions- extend on question by asking if anyone would have any ideas of what a traditional photo of an Aboriginal child might look like? What are the similarities and differences? Does Mathinna look happy in this photo? Do you think she enjoyed her life with the Franklins, purely based on this photo?

17. An end to a short life MATHINNA DIED AT THE AGE OF 21
BURIED AT OYSTER COVE
REMAINS RELOCATED TO MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY IN 1907
REMAINS RETURNED TO OYSTER COVE IN 1985 AND WERE CREMATED
(Longworth, 2008).
An end to a short life
Mathinna’s life was short lived having drowned in a puddle, while drunk, at the age of 21 on the 1st of September 1856.
Her body was buried at Oyster Cover Aboriginal cemetery.
Her remains dug up in 1907 by William Crowther, an Australian Politician, and taken to the University of Melbourne.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaigned for the remains to be returned and in 1985 they won this battle and a four day cremation ceremony was held for the Aboriginal people.

18. Achievements & recognitions
Mathinna on the North-East coast of Tasmania.
Mathinna has a town named after her on the North-East coast of Tasmania with a population of 287.
The Golden Gate Mine in Mathinna was one of Tasmania's highest-yield gold mines, second only to Beaconsfield. At its peak in the late 1890s, the town sustained a population of over 5,000, including a large number of Chinese miners, making it the third largest town in Tasmania at the time.
The post office in Mathinna was first named Blackboy in 1870 and re named Mathinna in 1882.

19. Achievements and recognitions
Children’s historical fiction book Mathinna’s
People by Nan Chauncy 1967
Novel Wanting by Richard Flanagan, 2008
(Russell, 2012).
Ballet titled Mathinna, cheographed
by Stephen Page for the Bangarra
Dance Theatre 2008
/performance/mathinna
What do you notice about the change of scenes and the music in the ballet video?
Since the 1950s Mathinna's life has inspired or been mentioned in several literary and dramatic works, she has featured in radio and stage plays, ballets, novels, musical compositions and television documentaries. Richard Flanagan’s novel Wanting is built around the story of her adoption by Sir John and Lady Franklin, and the destructive consequences that this had on Mathinna’s life. He wrote "She was spirited, smart, gifted; utterly destroyed by the intention of seeking to make her white“ (Raabus, 2011).
The Bangarra Dance Theatre presents her story in a way that shows us the sufferings of generations of Aboriginal children who have been dispossessed from parents, communities and cultural
Traditions. The ballet is inspired by Mathinnas journey between two cultures, It traces the history of an Aboriginal girl removed from her traditional life, adopted into western colonial society to be ultimately returned to the fragments of her original heritage.
***Show video of Ballet- 1 minute in??
The Ballet is now available on DVD or download from the internet.
Questions- Is there a strong difference between the Aboriginal and European scenes in the video? Do you think this is potrayed in a positive way?

20. Summary of Their lives Timeline 1900 Truganini’s body exhumed 1835
Mathina was born
1876
Truganini died
1812
Truganini was born
1856
Mathinna died
1878
Truganini’s body exhumed
1839
Truganini travelled to Port Philip
From this timeline we can see the different lives that Mathinna and Truganini lived.
We can see that between 1847 and 1856 Mathinna and Truganini were both located at Oyster Cove, however whether they knew each other we are unsure of but having both been there for nearly 10 years (before Mathinna died) you would think they would have had some contact with each other.
1847
Truganini moved to Oyster cove
1976
Truganini’s body cremated and scattered near homeland
1830
Truganini began mission with Robinson
Mathinna’s tribe captured/adopted by the Franklins
Mathinna abandoned & back to Flinders Island, then oyster cove

21. How their stories inform our understanding of racism.
Both Truganini and Mathinna had vastly different lives
How you view their story and how much of their stories you know may influence the way you see each of these individuals and therefore contribute to you being a racist or not.
Are there any similarities between their stories?
How do you think their stories inform our understanding of racism?
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From the stories of both these women we can appreciate the hard lives that they both encounted. Through their stories we can come to understand why people are racist today as they may be quick to judge, like in the case of Mathinna, if you didn’t know her full story then you might assume that the Europeans tried to give her a good life but instead she choose to turn to alcohol and therefore died at a young age. We may hear that a lot of Aboriginal people turn to alcohol and cigarettes and are quick to judge them without hearing their full story and what they have been through in life. On the other hand Truganini is a well known Tasmanian Aboriginal and is respected and remembered as ‘one of the good ones’ but why do we have this view? How do we know that all Aboriginal people weren’t also ‘good’ like Truganini?
Questions- Tell me what you know, what have you learnt from this, and how are the two ladies histories different?
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22. Teaching Activity
Students will watch a short video on the life of Truganini and/or Mathinna, which can be found at
Students will then in groups do some follow up research of their own to create a short drama performance, demonstrating their understanding of her life and colonial times.
They will then participate in a drama activity called Conscience Alley/Thought Tunnel.
Drama Performance- Freeze frames, etc
Conscience Alley- Students will stand in two lines standing opposite each other. Each line will represent a different point of view. For example for this activity one side might be Aboriginal people and the other European settlers. Students then write a short argument for whichever viewpoint they must represent. One student will walk down the alley as students take turns to read their statements. This person may represent Truganini, Robinson or Mathinna.
**Throughout this activity and in prior teaching of this topic students will be aware of how to respond ethically to this controversial issue.
Extension activity with literacy links- Students will then individually have the option of creating a poem, song or letter about their chosen Aboriginal woman which reflects their view point including what they have been through and why they are inspirational Aboriginals.

23. Teaching Activity continued
ACARA Links – History Curriculum
The role that a significant individual or group played in shaping a colony; for example, explorers, farmers, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, humanitarians, religious and political leaders, and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. (ACHHK097)
Drama Curriculum
Explore dramatic action, empathy and space in improvisations, playbuilding and scripted drama to develop characters and situations (ACADRM035) .
Develop skills and techniques of voice and movement to create character, mood and atmosphere and focus dramatic action (ACADRM036) .
Rehearse and perform devised and scripted drama that develops narrative, drives dramatic tension, and uses dramatic symbol, performance styles and design elements to share community and cultural stories and engage an audience (ACADRM037) .
Explain how the elements of drama and production elements communicate meaning by comparing drama from different social, cultural and historical contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander drama (ACADRR038) .
(ACARA, 2015)
***We chose to use drama to teach this topic as it offers a way to connect to these ladies stories. Furthermore as some students in your class may have experienced similar traumatic events in their own lives by using drama this offers a way to depersonalise the activity; therefore children are playing a role rather than acting as themselves.

24. References
ACARA. (2015). Australian Curriculum Assessment & Reporting Authority: Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum. Retrieved July 2015, from
Alexander, A. (2006). The companion to Tasmanian history: Truganini. Retrieved August 2, 2008, from
Australian Encyclopedia- Australian Stories. (2007). Women in colonial times. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from -8bae-44dc-8aa2-1cdb10ae12ff%40sessionmgr113&hid=126
A Virtual History of the Third Age (UA3). (n.d.). Truganini: Tasmanian Aboriginie- one of the last of her tribe. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from

25. References
Bangara Dance Theatre. (2008). Mathinna DVD. Retrieved July 2015, from .
Encyclopedia od Aboriginal Australia. (1994). Truganini. Retrieved September 19, 2015, from fc609268d6b2%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4213
Florek, S. (2011). Truganini. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from
Longworth, K. (2008). The girl in the little red dress. Newcastle, NSW: Newcastle Herald.
Raabus, C. (2011). The hidden story of Mathinna: spirited, gifted, utterly destroyed. Retrieved July 2015, from .
Russell, P. (2012). Girl in a Red Dress: Inventions of Mathinna. Australian Historical Studies. 43.
Ryan, L., & Smith, N. (1976). Biography Trugernanner (Truganini) ( ). Retrieved August 2, 2015, from
Pictures obtained from Google images. All links provided under each image.