Land, Clare ORCID: 0000-0003-1755-5718 (2014) Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner: The involvement of Aboriginal people from Tasmania in key events of early Melbourne. Other. City of Melbourne, Melbourne.

Abstract

To learn about Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner is to learn one of the most important stories of early Melbourne. In 1841, only seven years after the colonial occupation of the Port Phillip District began, two Aboriginal men from Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), were convicted of the murder of two whale-hunters in the Western Port area. On 20 January 1842 they became the first people hanged in Melbourne. There are many events and stories connected to the hanging of these two men, Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner. Firstly, the men’s stories are very important in their own right. So too are the stories of the women who were tried with them, Truganini, Planobeena and Pyterruner. Further, when placed in their full context, the stories of these five Aboriginal people from Tasmania offer vital insights into the very significant past, present and future of Melbourne and Victoria. They are also a window into the complexity of the colonial history of Tasmania. This booklet explains why this is one of early Melbourne’s most important stories. It contains two maps designed to show the places and areas in Victoria and Tasmania (page 12) and in Melbourne (page 13) that this story relates to. Its companion document Forms for Monuments to Complex Histories, available online, discusses appropriate forms for monuments or public commemorations of histories that like this one are complex and, in important ways, unfinished. -- See also: "Forms for monuments to complex histories. ISBN 9781742509792"

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