Looking for Arawarra ......

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.

The search begins

The search for Arawarra, at least in the view of the present writer, began with Associate Professor Marlene Longbottom back in 2020, and before that with the erection by the side of the road into the South Coast township of Berry of two iron statues to Alexander and David Berry. This latter event riled the local 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 my notice a paper by ..... on a visit to the Berry Museum and the problems with the display, or rather lack thereof, of Indigenous material. She 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 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 some of the remains of Arawarra that had been shipped over the Great Britain during the late 1820s. A brief biography of Arawarra can be found here - Arawarra, Chief of Shoalhaven c.1760 - c.1825.

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Players

In the subsequent 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
• Uncle Gerry Moore - Aboriginal Elder of the Shoalhaven Jerrinja community, mediator
• Arawarra play
• Jacob - Aboriginal, teach and performance artist
• Lincoln Smith - artistic director, non-Aboriginal
• Theresa Ardler - Aboriginal, Wreck Bay, researcher, Global Fellowship Uni 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, Scotland
• Tom Jones - academic, Scotland
• Associate Lecturer Tony Crook - academic, Scotland
• Shoalhaven Working Together Alliance
• Lisa Ogle - lawyer, secretary SWTA

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Organisations and Topics

* Global Fellowship, 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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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; 12 March 2026

Michael Organ, Australia