Tuesday 21 March 2023
Tune of the Day: Truganini of Tasmania
Reel by Roddy Campbell
Today's tune was kindly contributed to our collection by its composer, piper Roddy Campbell from the isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He writes:
My cousins in Tassie opened my eyes to the tragic history of that island, which was once part of the Australian mainland but for 20,000 years or so has been separated by what became known as The Bass Strait. This separation resulted in the indigenous tribes of Tasmania remaining more backward than the mainlanders, e.g. they had no boomerangs. Grand old lady Truganini [1812–1876] has the distinction of having been the last of the pure-blooded Tasmanian aborigines, the remainder having been victims of exploitation, starvation, disease and genocide.