About Us  |  Volunteers  |  State History Conference  |   SA History  |  Duryea Panorama  |  SA History Week  | 
History Matters Magazine  |  Photographic Collection

WITH COURAGE AND HUMANITY
Peter Badcoe Victoria Cross
Yandruwandha Burke and Wills Breastplate
Regional Tour: March - June 2009

> With Courage and Humanity
> Peter Badcoe Victoria Cross
> Yandruwandha Burke and Wills Breastplate
> Tour Details
> Education Materials
> Media
> Other History Trust of South Australia Exhibitions
> History Trust Homepage

 

Yandruwandha Burke and Wills Breastplate

The breastplate was presented to the Yandruwandha people in 1862 for assistance given to explorers Burke, Wills and King who were left stranded without food and water in April 1861 at the expedition’s Cooper Creek base camp. Other members of the party had left only hours earlier to return to Melbourne, having given up hope of the safe return of the explorers. Despite the help given to them by the Yandruwandha people, both Burke and Wills died, as a result of the privations suffered during the expedition. King survived and was found in September 1861 by a search party led by Alfred Howitt.

More information on the Yandruwandha Burke and Wills Breastplate

More information on breastplates in general

Gloria Paterson is an Elder form the Yandruwandha community. The Yandruwandha lived in the Cooper's Creek area where the Burke and Wills expedition set up their base camp. In the video below Gloria recounts the stories of her grandparents, and her people's experience and interactions with the explorers. She reflects on the aftermarth, and what it means today.

In the video below Historian Tom Gara discusses the Burke and Wills expedition and its dealings with Indigenous Australians. Tom also talks about the broader attitudes of European explorers towards Indigenous Australians.