In order to discover who the real Jimmy Governor was, I must find out more about his Aboriginal ancestry.
Jimmy is said to have been a Wiradjuri man.
The Wiradjuri are described as 'warriors' by Aboriginal people I have spoken to recently.
The only information I have been able to find about the Wiradjuri so far is on the Mudgee District Local History website http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/
After perusing this website, I have learnt that the Wiradjuri nation covered a vast area in the central west of NSW.
Their first contact with white settlers was in the Bathurst area, who began to arrive in their territory after the crossing of the Blue Mountains.
At first the Wiradjuri people were peaceful towards the new arrivals.
But after they realised the intruders were taking their best hunting land and being disrespectful towards their sacred sites, they turned on them.
By 1824, an outright war between the blacks and whites had broken out with many retaliatory killings on both sides.
The then Governor, Thomas Brisbane (successor to Governor Lachlan Macquarie), declared martial law and permitted the Wiradjuri to be killed with impunity.
This 'open season' on Aborigines went on for four months, from August to December 1824.
This was the beginning of the end for the Wiradjuri.
By the time Jimmy Governor embarked on his own retaliatory 'pay back' campaign some 75 years later, his Wiradjuri relatives were living on a mission at Wollar.
But his battle was not about land rights.
It was about 'pay back', righting the wrongs done to him by other people, including members of his own extended Aboriginal family.
Jimmy is said to have been a Wiradjuri man.
The Wiradjuri are described as 'warriors' by Aboriginal people I have spoken to recently.
The only information I have been able to find about the Wiradjuri so far is on the Mudgee District Local History website http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/
After perusing this website, I have learnt that the Wiradjuri nation covered a vast area in the central west of NSW.
Their first contact with white settlers was in the Bathurst area, who began to arrive in their territory after the crossing of the Blue Mountains.
At first the Wiradjuri people were peaceful towards the new arrivals.
But after they realised the intruders were taking their best hunting land and being disrespectful towards their sacred sites, they turned on them.
By 1824, an outright war between the blacks and whites had broken out with many retaliatory killings on both sides.
The then Governor, Thomas Brisbane (successor to Governor Lachlan Macquarie), declared martial law and permitted the Wiradjuri to be killed with impunity.
This 'open season' on Aborigines went on for four months, from August to December 1824.
This was the beginning of the end for the Wiradjuri.
By the time Jimmy Governor embarked on his own retaliatory 'pay back' campaign some 75 years later, his Wiradjuri relatives were living on a mission at Wollar.
But his battle was not about land rights.
It was about 'pay back', righting the wrongs done to him by other people, including members of his own extended Aboriginal family.
