William Barak’s Untitled painting of dancers

Untitled painting of dancers on ceremony with an audience in black and red ochre pigments, William Barak, circa 1900. Royal Historical Society of Victoria Collection

William Barak was a ngurungaeta, or elder, of the Wurundjeri People. He was present as a boy when John Batman met with his tribal elders to ‘purchase’ the Melbourne area in 1935. Before he died Barak described witnessing the signing of the treaty in a ceremony he called a tanderrum.

Many of Barak’s works were completed at the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve community in Healsville between the 1860’s and 1903. He was an influential spokesman and was instrumental in petitioning the Victorian government to retain Coranderrk.

The estimated date of this work is 1900.

You can find more information on William Barak here: https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/our-story/ancestors-past/