Looking for Arawarra ...... an international research effort
| Arawarra 1760-1825 | Berry's Frankenstein & Arawarra | Death ... Arawarra, Berry & Shelley | Finding Arawarra Research Project |
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| John Lewin, Towwaa [Jarvis Bay], 1810 (detail). Collection: British Museum. |
Contents
- Finding Arawarra
- People
- Organisations
- Chronology
- References
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1. The Finding Arawarra Research Project
Noble causes come along rarely; the search for Arawarra is one of them.....
In late 2019 the present writer was approached by Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom of the University of Wollongong and later James Cook University, Queensland, with the plea: "We have to find Arawarra!" Professor Longbottom felt that, as a long-term researcher and professional archivist, the present writer 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 November 2026.
The search for Arawarra, at least in the view of the present writer, began with Professor Marlene Longbottom, and her bringing to attention the erection of two large iron sculptures of Alexander and David Berry by the side of the road leading 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 notice the article Small histories: a road trip reveals local museums stuck in a rut concerning a visit to the Berry Museum by University of Wollongong research student Jennifer Saunders and the problems with the display, or rather lack thereof, of Indigenous material. 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 A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990. 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. brief biography of Arawarra compiled by the present writer in December 2025 can be found here - Arawarra, Chief of Shoalhaven c.1760 - c.1825.
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2. People
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 - Indigenous academic, member of Jerrinja community
- Michael Organ - researcher and historian
- Shoalhaven Mob
- Uncle Gerry Moore - Nowra / Bomaderry
- 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
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3. 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.
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4. Chronology
The events listed below relate to the Arawarra Research Project and events which have impacted upon the ongoing search for the remains of the Elder, following their dispatch from Australia by Alexander Berry during 1827.
1989
* Michael Organ, A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Aboriginal Education Centre, University of Wollongong, 1989, 649p. Includes copies of 1830s reminiscences of Arawarra by Alexander Berry. These were later used by teacher and performer Jacob Morris in developing a performance piece on Arrawarra which was first presented to the public in March 2026.
......
2019
* circa June - Marlene Longbottom (ML) contacts Michael Organ (MO) regarding researching Arawarra, with the aim of discovering his remains and returning them to Australia. MO begins compiling a preliminary research document for ML.
* 18 October - Jennifer Saunders, Small histories: a road trip reveals local museums stuck in a rut, The Conversation, 18 October 2019.
* 18 December - Michael Organ, Arawarra of the Shoalhaven: Grave Robbing and the Frankenstein Connection: Notes for Marlene Thompson (Longbottom), manuscript, 15 pages. Updated 12 March 2020 and then through to 2024.
2020
* 11 October - Marlene Longbottom and Michael Organ, Research Proposal - Frankenstein Australis - Terror Incognita: Violence, Grave Robbing and the Aboriginal Body, South Cross University, manuscript form, 9 pages. Complied as part of standard research protocols.
2021
* Ongoing preliminary research by ML and MO into Arawarra and the Australian Indigenous body trade during the early colonial period.
2022
* Ongoing preliminary research by ML and MO into Arawarra and the Australian Indigenous body trade during the early colonial period.
* 5 February - Marlene Longbottom and Michael Organ, Alexander Berry, grave robbing and the Frankenstein connection, blogger.com, 5 February 2022. Research notes from 2020-2021 compiled into a narrative regarding the grave robbing activities of Alexander Berry and the tenuous links to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of Frankenstein (1818).
* 6 June - email MO to ML re Frankenstein Australis: Terror Incognita! paper on Google Docs.
* 17 June - email MO to ML re preparation of slides for possible Alexander Berry as Dr. Frankenstein presentation.
* 9 July - Lorina Allam, Alexander Berry: holes in the story of a NSW pioneer conceal a dark past of Indigenous exploitation, The Guardian, 9 July 2022. The story is based on an extensive interview with Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom.
2023
* 19 September - Professor Emma Sutton of St Andrews University, Scotland, emails Professor Longbottom as an introduction, having read The Guardian interview of 9 July 2022. Informs Professor Longbottom of the forthcoming colloquium at St Andrews University.
* 21 - 22 September - Alexander Berry and Colonial Legacies: A Colloquium hosted by the School of English, University of St Andrews, Scotland, 4-6pm Thursday 21 and 9am-3pm Friday 22 September 2023, School V, United Colleges, North Street, St Andrews. Organized in part by Professor Sutton.
2024
* 26 January - Marlene Longbottom and Michael Organ, Frankenstein Australis & clandestine dismemberment - a terror incognita, 26 January 2024. Draft article.
* 7 June - Frankenstein Australis.... journal article submitted to Australian Historical Studies. Unpublished.
* 17 - 23 June - Three academics from St. Andrews University, Scotland, visit the Shoalhaven to discuss the Arawarra Research Project - Professor David Herd, Professor Tom Jones and Professor Emma Sutton. They meet online and in person with members of the local Indigenous community, including Alfred Wellington; staff of the Wollyungah Education Centre, University of Wollongong; plus both Professor Longbottom and Michael Organ.
* 17 June - Marlene Longbottom, IE&RC Brief - Discussion brief for a meeting with researchers from St Andrews University, Scotland.
* 23 October - Michael Organ, Marlene Longbottom and Tony Crook, From death to death ..... Arawarra, Alexander Berry and Mary Shelley's connected timeline, blogger.com, 23 October 2024. Research notes arranged around a timeline format in order to facilitate the ongoing research collaboration process between St Andrews and Australia.
2025
* 30 March - Peter Botsman, Australian Frankenstein: Alexander Berry, Mary Shelley and Arawarra, The Author, 30 March 2025. An article based in part on the work of Longbottom and Organ, alongside Botsman over Indigenous research.
* November - Jacob Mara (Morris) and Lincoln Smith, Arawarra [Performance / play], 2026 Program, Merrigong Theatre Company, Wollongong, November 2025. Public announcement of upcoming performances.
* 14 December - Michael Organ, Arawarra Timeline notes and communications regarding the Jacob Mara play, manuscript, 5 pages. Forwarded on to Morris and Smith in support of the Arawarra play / performance piece.
* 11 December - Michael Organ, Arawarra, Chief of Shoalhaven c.1760 - c.1825, blogger.com, 11 December 2025. A summary biography based on the scant information available to date.
2026
* 26 March - Longbottom, Marlene, Jarrah Longbottom-Wymarra and Michael Organ, From Cullunghutti to Edinburgh: The infrastructure of colonial extraction and the grammar of explanation, February 2026. Article submitted to the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications on 26 March 2026. Under review.
* 24 March - Michael Organ attends a rehearsal performance of the Arawarra play. He also participates in a video taped interview with Jacob Mara discussion the background to the play and its genesis.
* 25 March - email from Tony Crook to Professor Longbottom, cc'd to Michael Organ, regarding implementation of a confidentiality regime by a group of three Shoalhaven community elders over all future work associated with the Arawarra Research Project and excluding Professor Longbottom and Michael Organ from continued collaboration with St Andrews University staff in that work.
* 26 - 28 March - Jacob Mara and Lincoln Smith, Arawarra [Performance / play], Merrigong Theatre Company, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong, 26 - 28 March 2026. Sold-out performances of the Arawarra play by Jacob Mara. Filming also took place as part of a planned documentary.
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5. References
Allam, Lorina, Alexander Berry: holes in the story of a NSW pioneer conceal a dark past of Indigenous exploitation, The Guardian, 9 July 2022. Includes extensive interview with Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom.
Bennett, Michael, For a Labourer Worthy of His Hire: Aboriginal Economic Responses to Colonisation in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, 1770-1900, PhD thesis, University of Canberra, 2003.
-----, A long time working: Aboriginal labour on the Coolangatta Estate, 1822-1901, in Greg Patmore, John Shields and Nikola Balnave (eds.), The Past is Before Us – The Ninth National Labour History Conference, University of Sydney, 30 June – 2 July, 2005, 19-27.
Berry, Alexander, Recollections of the Aborigines by Alexander Berry [May] 1838, Supreme Court
Papers, Cod 294, Part B, 557-608, Archives Office of New South Wales. Reproduced in Organ (1989, 228-240).
-----, Reminiscences of Alexander Berry, Angas & Robertson, Sydney, 1912, 194p.
Botsman, Peter, Australian Frankenstein: Alexander Berry, Mary Shelley and Arawarra, The Author, 30 March 2025.
Longbottom, Marlene and Michael Organ, Alexander Berry, grave robbing and the Frankenstein connection, blogger.com, 5 February 2022.
-----, Frankenstein Australis & clandestine dismemberment - a terror incognita, [journal article submitted to Australian Historical Studies], 7 June 2024. Unpublished.
Longbottom, Marlene, Jarrah Longbottom-Wymarra and Michael Organ, From Cullunghutti to Edinburgh: The infrastructure of colonial extraction and the grammar of explanation, February 2026. Submitted to Humanities and Social Sciences Communications on 26 March 2026. Under review.
Mara, Jacob and Lincoln Smith,Arawarra [Performance / play], 2026 Program, Merrigong Theatre Company, Wollongong, November 2025.
Organ, Michael, A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1850; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Aboriginal Education Centre, University of Wollongong, 1989, 630p.
-----, Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1900, Report to the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 1993, 348p.
-----, Arawarra, Chief of Shoalhaven c.1760 - c.1825, blogger.com, 11 December 2025.
Organ, Michael, Marlene Longbottom and Tony Crook, From death to death ..... Arawarra, Alexander Berry and Mary Shelley's connected timeline, blogger.com, 23 October 2024.
Saunders, Jennifer, Small histories: a road trip reveals local museums stuck in a rut, The Conversation, 18 October 2019.
Turnbull, Paul, Alexander Berry: ‘Laird of the Shoalhaven and phrenologist’, in ‘Rare work among the professors’: the capture of indigenous skulls within phrenological knowledge in early colonial Australia, in Barbara Creed and Jeannette Hoorn (editors), Body Trade: Captivity, Cannibalism and Colonialism in the Pacific, Pluto Press, 2001, 7-14.
-----, Colonial Phrenology in the 1820s: The Cranial Collections of Alexander Berry, in Science, Museums and Collecting the Indigenous Dead in Colonial Australia, Palgrave Studies in Pacific History, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, 163-169.
Wikipedia, Alexander Berry, Wikipedia, accessed 20 August 2019.
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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 | Finding Arawarra Research Project | 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 May 2026
Michael Organ, Australia
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