29 Facts About Yagan

Yagan was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people.

Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler.

Yagan's father was Midgegooroo, an elder of the Beeliar people; his mother was one of Midgegooroo's three wives.

Yagan was generally acknowledged to be the most physically powerful of his tribe, and was said to have been able to spear another stick from a distance of 23 metres or penetrate a tree from a distance of 55 metres.

Yagan would have been about 35 years old in 1829 when British settlers landed in the area and established the Swan River Colony.

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In June 1832 Yagan led a party of Noongar in attacking two labourers sowing a field of wheat alongside the Canning River near Kelmscott.

Yagan was sentenced to death, but he was saved by the intercession of settler Robert Lyon.

Yagan hoped to gain his cooperation and use his tribal stature to persuade the Noongar to accept colonial authority.

The Perth Gazette wrote that Yagan "was master of ceremonies and acquitted himself with infinite grace and dignity".

The following month, Yagan was among a group who received biscuits from a military contingent under Lieutenant Norcott; when Norcott tried to restrict his supply, Yagan threatened him with his spear.

Later that month, Yagan was with a group of Noongar who entered Watson's house while he was away.

Domjum, a brother of Yagan, was badly injured and died in jail a few days later.

Yagan stepped forward and leaning with his left hand on my shoulder while he gesticulated with the right, delivered a sort of recitation, looking earnestly in my face.

Yagan displayed the head on a table in front of a panoramic view of King George Sound reproduced from Dale's sketches.

Yagan's conclusions were consistent with contemporary European opinion of Indigenous Australians.

In 1894 the Institution's collections were dispersed, and Yagan's head was lent to the Liverpool Museum; it is thought not to have been put on display there.

Colbung's solicitors requested waiver of this condition on grounds that the exhumation would be of great personal significance to Yagan's living relatives, and great national importance to Australia.

Yagan alleges that one West reporter contacted Noongar who were known to be in disagreement, and quoted one to the other, so as to elicit provocative responses.

Yagan's request was not met, and on the anniversary of Yagan's death, Colbung conducted a short memorial service at the burial plot in Everton.

The handover of Yagan's skull was further delayed when a Noongar named Corrie Bodney applied to the Supreme Court of Western Australia for an injunction against the handover.

Yagan's skull was handed over to the Noongar delegation at a ceremony at Liverpool Town Hall on 31 August 1997.

On its return to Perth, Yagan's head continued to be a source of controversy and conflict.

Wilkes has claimed that it can, so long as it is placed where Yagan was killed, so that Dreamtime spirits can reunite the remains.

Yagan's head spent some time in storage in a bank vault before being handed over to forensics experts who reconstructed a model from it.

Yagan was more of a maverick, a bold and courageous warrior whose actions on behalf of his people and their rights made him notorious.

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Yagan is considered a famous historical figure throughout Australia, with material about him appearing in such publications as the Australian Dictionary of Biography, and Western Australia's school curriculum.

On 6 September 1997 The West Australian published a Dean Alston cartoon entitled Alas Poor Yagan, which was critical of the fact that the return of Yagan's head had become a source of conflict between Noongars instead of fostering unity.

The result was a life-size statue in bronze, depicting Yagan standing naked with a spear held across his shoulders.

Hitchcock's statue of Yagan was officially opened by Yagan Committee chairperson Elizabeth Hanson on 11 September 1984.