These photographs open a window into a difficult and pivotal moment for Australia’s First Peoples. Taken around the turn of the 20th century, they document a world in flux as the colonial frontier advanced. The images don’t shy away from the harsh realities of dispossession. But look closer, and you’ll also see the remarkable resilience of family, the persistence of culture, and the deep strength of people connected to their land for tens of thousands of years. Each portrait captures an individual grappling with a profoundly changing present, all while carrying an ancient history in their eyes.
#1 Group Of Women, With An Elderly Ngarrindjeri Woman In The Centre, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#2 Mr. J.P. Smith (Left) And Lankey (Right), Lankey Was From The Booandik Tribe Of Mount Gambier, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#3 Group Of Piccaninnies, Australian Aboriginal Children, 1900s
Image source: Kerry & Co., Sydney
#4 A Native Of Western Australia – Society For The Propagation Of The Gospel Postcard, 1900s
#5 Aboriginal Children At Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission In Victoria, Australia, 1900s
Image source: Bulmer
#6 At Point Mcleay, Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#7 The King Of Warramunga Tribe, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#8 “Tommy King” Albany, Western Australia, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#9 Fanny Smith, Recording Tasmanian Aboriginal Song And Speech, Hobart, Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Library of New South Wales
#10 Three Aboriginal Australian Men Posing Outside A Tent, Durundur Reserve, Circa 1902
Image source: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
#11 Aboriginal Mia-Mia – Temporary Shelter Of The Australian Aborigines, In Albany, West Australia, 1906
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#12 Church Organist At Lake Tyers, Victoria, Australia,1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#13 Man Collecting Sea Shells Or Food, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#14 Children Playing Marbles At Point Mcleay, South Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#15 Australian Aborigine With Mask, 1900s
Image source: Kerry & Co., Sydney
#16 Flour Rations To Natives, South Australia, 1911
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#17 Group Of Boys With Football, Point Mcleay, South Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#18 Men Yarding Sheep At Point Pearce Mission Station, South Australia, 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#19 At Oodnadatta, South Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#20 Katie Cook And Bella Gollen At Manuka, Australia, 1906
Image source: State Records SA
#21 Mission Chapel At Killalpaninna, South Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#22 Natives, Albany, Western Australia, 1900s
Image source: T. Todd
#23 The King Of Melbourne, Circa 1900
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#24 West Australian Aborigines, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#25 King, Queen And Princess, Daly River, Northern Territory, Australia, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#26 Aboriginal Ladies In Day Dawn, Murchison, Western Australia, Circa 1907
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#27 Kitty In Her Canoe At Lake Tyers Station, Victoria, Australia, 1900s
Image source: N. J. Caire
#28 David Unaipon, Point Mcleay Mission, Circa 1900s
Image source: State Records SA
#29 Washing Wool At Point Mcleay, South Australia, Circa 1900
Image source: State Records SA
#30 Aboriginal Leader Called King Jimmy, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#31 Typical Australian Pioneer Hut With Aboriginal Lady At Door, 1900s
Image source: The Rose Series
#32 Australian Aborigines At Hobart For Carnival, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#33 Arunta Tribesman, Central Australia, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#34 Two Aboriginal People On The Banks Of A River, South Australia, Circa 1905
Image source: State Government Photographer
#35 Aboriginal Man, Bilin Bilin, Sitting Outside A Tent At The Deebing Creek Aboriginal Mission, Circa 1900
Image source: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
#36 Group Portrait With Mary Ann Sullivan, Daughter Of An Aboriginal Woman Of Kamilaroi Or Anaiwan Descent And An Irish Settler, With Other First Nations People, Stoney Creek Mission, Ngoorumbah, New South Wales, Circa 1900s
Image source: State Library of New South Wales
#37 Aborigines From Townsville, Australia, Circa 1905
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#38 The Black Trackers, Possibly In North Queensland, Australia, 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#39 Nests And Eggs Of Australian Birds, Including The Geographical Distribution Of The Species And Popular Observations Thereon, Australia, 1901
Image source: Internet Archive Book Images
#40 A New South Wales Aboriginal King, Circa 1900
Image source: Star Photo, Co.
#41 Australian Aboriginal’s Wurley (Home), 1900s
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#42 Australian Aboriginal King And His A.d.c.s, Victoria, Australia, Circa 1906
Image source: Aussie~mobs
#43 Group Of Female Australian Aborigines, Circa 1904
Image source: Aussie~mobs
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