Looking for Arawarra ...... an international effort

Shoalhaven & South Coast: Aborigines / Indigenous / First Nations archive | Amootoo | Arawarra 1760-1825 | Aunty Julie Freeman art | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Blanket lists | Broger | Broughton | Bundle | Byamunga's (Devil's) Hands | Cornelius O'Brien & Kangaroo Valley | Cullunghutti - Sacred Mountain | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | God | Gooloo Creek, Conjola | Indigenous words | Kangaroo Valley | Jerribaley Cemetery | Mary Reiby & Berry | Mickey of Ulladulla | Minamurra River massacre 1818 | Moruya monster | Mount Gigenbullen | Neddy Noora breastplate | Timelong | Towwaa 1810 | Ulladulla Mission | Yams |

John Lewin, Towwaa [Jarvis Bay], 1810 (detail). Collection: British Museum.

Noble causes come along rarely; the search for Arawarra is one of them..... 

The search begins

The search for Arawarra, at least in the view of the present writer, began with Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom back in 2019, and her bringing to attention the erection of two large iron sculptures of Alexander and David Berry by the side of the road into the South Coast township of Berry. This event riled some of the local Indigenous and non-Indigenous population, bringing back memories of the colonial era abuses of the Berry family and their mistreatment of the local community in pursuit of profit. Arising out of that, Marlene brought to the present writer's attention notice of the following paper on a visit to the Berry Museum and the problems with the display, or rather lack thereof, of Indigenous material.

* Jennifer Saunders, Small histories: a road trip reveals local museums stuck in a rut, The Conversation, 18 October 2019. 

The paper also referred to the tragic tale of Alexander Berry's treatment of the Aboriginal warrior, chief and Elder Arawarra during the 1820s. The present writer had published archival material relating to Berry's actions and Arawarra back in 1989 in his Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850. Some thirty years later it served as one of the sparks for an effort to locate the remains of Arawarra that had been shipped over to Great Britain during the late 1820s. That search continues, and some aspects of it are presented below.

A brief biography of Arawarra compiled by the present writer in December 2025 can be found here -Arawarra, Chief of Shoalhaven c.1760 - c.1825.

---------------------

Players

In the recent search for Arawarra, the following individuals and organisations have played a part, and continue to do so as of the writing of this blog. 

• Arawarra / Frankenstein research project
• Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom - Aboriginal, academic, member of Jerrinja community
• Michael Organ - researcher and historian
• Shoalhaven Mob
• Jerrinja Elders 
• Uncle Gerry Moore - Aboriginal Elder of the Shoalhaven Jerrinja community, mediator
• Arthur Longbottom - Aboriginal Elder
• Deliah Lowe - Aboriginal Elder 
• Arawarra play
• Jacob Morris - Aboriginal teacher and performance artist
• Lincoln Smith - artistic director, non-Aboriginal
• Theresa Ardler - Aboriginal, Wreck Bay, researcher, Global Fellowship, University of St Andrews applicant.
• University of St. Andrews, Scotland
• Professor David Herd - academic, Scotland, head of the Centre for the Critical Re-imagining of Human Rights, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
• Senior Lecturer Emma Sutton - academic, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
• Tom Jones - academic, Scotland
• Associate Lecturer Tony Crook - academic, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
• Shoalhaven Working Together Alliance
• Lisa Ogle - lawyer, secretary SWTA
• Megan Pickett - chair, SWTA 

--------------------

The Arawarra Research Project

In late 2019 the present writer was approached by Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom of the University of Wollongong and later James Cook University, Queensland. "We have to find Arawarra" was one of the first things she said to me. As a long-term researcher and professional archivist, she felt I would be of assistance in the task of locating the remains - if they survived - of the late Aboriginal Elder and warrior Arawarra (circa 1760 - 1825). Thus commenced a process which resulted in contact and collaboration with a group of academics from the University of St Andrews. Scotland, the former alma mater of Alexander Berry. A number of side projects and events arose out of that subsequent international collaboration, including the launch of the Arawarra one-man play / performance piece by writer, musician, dancer and actor Jacob Morris and producer Lincoln Smith in 2026.

-------------------- 

Organisations and Topics

* Global Fellowship Scheme - Research, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

* Centre for the Critical Re-imagining of Human Rights, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

* Shoalhaven Working Together Alliance (SWTA).

* University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

-------------------

Shoalhaven & South Coast: Aborigines / Indigenous / First Nations archive | Amootoo | Arawarra 1760-1825 | Aunty Julie Freeman art | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Blanket lists | Broger | Broughton | Bundle | Byamunga's (Devil's) Hands | Cornelius O'Brien & Kangaroo Valley | Cullunghutti - Sacred Mountain | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | God | Gooloo Creek, Conjola | Indigenous words | Kangaroo Valley | Jerribaley Cemetery | Mary Reiby & Berry | Mickey of Ulladulla | Minamurra River massacre 1818 | Moruya monster | Mount Gigenbullen | Neddy Noora breastplate | Timelong | Towwaa 1810 | Ulladulla Mission | Yams |

Last updated; 5 April 2026

Michael Organ, Australia