Yagan objects
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Yagan's story | Map | Finding Yagan | Behind the scenes | Repatriation | Objects | Landscape | Back to Resistance
The National Museum of Australia tells history through objects and personal stories. Yagan's story is told through the key items of a shotgun, a kangaroo skin cloak, walking stick and a spear thrower.
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Shotgun
Flintlock fowling piece of the type carried by farm hands in colonial Perth in the 1820s and 1830s, made by Elwell of London and Birmingham, National Museum of Australia. Photo: George Serras. Inset photo: Kipley Nink.
Cloak
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Booka (kangaroo cloak) about 1990, on loan from Ken Colbung. Photo: Lannon Harley.
A kangaroo cloak made for the special occasion of Yagan's return. The cloak was used to wrap and protect the box which carried Yagan's remains home to Perth in 1997. This cloak is significant because of its role in Yagan's repatriation.
Front view of the booka, with fur on the inside, showing the painted designs using the colours red, yellow, white and black.
Cloak
Booka (kangaroo cloak) about 1990, on loan from Ken Colbung. Photo: Lannon Harley.
A Kangaroo cloak made for the special occasion of Yagan's return. The cloak was used to wrap and protect the box which carried Yagan's remains home to Perth in 1997. This cloak is significant because of its role in Yagan's repatriation.
Back view of the booka, with zigzag pattern probably representing Yagan's initiation scar.
Cloak (detail)
Booka (kangaroo cloak) about 1990, on loan from Ken Colbung. Photo: Lannon Harley.
A kangaroo cloak made for the special occasion of Yagan's return. The cloak was used to wrap and protect the box which carried Yagan's remains home to Perth in 1997. This cloak is significant because of its role in Yagan's repatriation.
Close-up of the stitching on the booka. The Noongar cloaks, made from kangaroo pelts, are made of two to three kangaroo skins sewn together. Unlike in south-east Australia, where people make cloaks from a number of possum skins, there is less stitching involved in making a booka because of the materials used.
Cloak (detail)
Booka (kangaroo cloak) about 1990, on loan from Ken Colbung. Photo: Lannon Harley
A kangaroo cloak made for the special occasion of Yagan's return. The cloak was used to wrap and protect the box which carried Yagan's remains home to Perth in 1997. This cloak is significant because of its role in Yagan's repatriation.
Close-up of the wooden clasp used to hold the sides of the booka together. Bookas are worn in a way that leaves one arm free and disencumbered, therefore this clasp might normally be worn slightly off-centre.
Walking stick
Walking stick about 1980, on loan from Ken Colbung. Photo: George Serras.
