William Barak b. 1824

Also known as Bearack, King Billy, Beruk, Berak
  • Artist (Draughtsman),
  • Artist (Painter)
Wurundjeri Ngurungaeta (headman) and artist, William Barak created over fifty distinctive charcoal drawings with natural ochres and water colour of purely Aboriginal subjects. A politician and leader of his people at the Victorian settlement of Corranderrk, Barak was descended from the Aboriginal 'Chiefs' from whom the Port Phillip Association 'purchased' 600,000 acres of tribal lands in June 1835.

Citations

  • Murphy-wandin, Joy, 'A Wurundjeri Story, William Barak: the history of one of the greatest men of this area…’, Yarra Healingurl:, .

  • 'Publications and websites from 1981 – 2009’.

  • Cooper, Carol (et al) (1981), 'Aboriginal Australia’, Australian Galleries Directors Council, Melbourne.

  • Sayers, Andrew (1994), 'Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century’, Oxford Univeristy Press, Melbourne.

  • Ryan, Judith; Cooper, Carol; Murphy-Wandin, Joy (2003), 'Remembering Barak’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

  • Howitt, Alfred William (1904), 'The Native Tribes of Southeast Australia’, Macmillan & Co, London.

  • Barwick, Diane (1998), 'Rebellion at Coranderrk’, Aboriginal History Monograph 5, Canberra.

  • Mission Voices (2004), 'Interview with Joy Murphy’, Mission voices, Koorie Heritage Trust.

    http://abc.net.au/missionvoices/coranderrk/voics_of_coranderrk/aunty_joy_murphy

See also

  • 'Ryan, J., Remembering Barak, 2003, p.45'.
  • 'Cooper, C. (et al) , Aboriginal Australia, 1981, p.117'.
  • 'Sayers, Andrew, Aboriginal Artists of the Nineteenth Century, 1994, pl.8'.

Initial data sources

  • Storylines Project, COFA, UNSW