The Wire

The Hobart Tasmanian Museum and Art Galley has had two displays removed of 19th Century Aboriginal woman Truganini’s bust – which were used to display beads from across the Commonwealth. Truganini lived from 1812 to 1876, and was long viewed as the last “full-blood” Tasmanian Aborigine. Members of the local Aboriginal community protested over the display saying the Museum had not sought permission to use the two displays of Truganini’s busts, and that she was being used to perpetuate myths that she was the last remaining Aboriginal person from Tasmania. Michael Mansell, the legal director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, explains why the displays had to be removed from a cultural perspective.