Konstantina
Raining on Eora (Cammerangal) - KONKK0070
| Size: H-151 X W-100 cm. |
| Medium: Acrylic and Ochre on Canvas |
| SOLD |
| Product No: KONKK0070 |
Finalist Byron Art Prize 2021
She is Cammeraygal.
She is sad, she is sorry, she watched the destruction and could do nothing to stop it.
She sent her woman Barangaroo to Bennelong perhaps to help him in his efforts to infiltrate, appease or manipulate the Colonists. I'm not sure anyone will really understand the true motive for his intense fascination with his oppressors, especially the obsession with the Biyanga (father, but also the term Bennelong gave to Governor Phillip), though many speculate.
Regardless, Barangaroo a strong woman, she spent her days with her clan and rarely entertained the Barawalgal (British) as her husband did. She was deeply shamed at the hands of her husband and Governor Phillip when she was disrobed of a petticoat and humiliated naked in front of large group of military officers who then cut off her hair.
When she passed away years later, that disrespect was further enhanced by her western burial in the front garden of Governor Philips residence, modern day Circular Quay. A practise that is against Cultural Protocol and perhaps shows how enchanted Bennelong had become with his oppressor as to allow this to happen. Or perhaps it is a sign of how controlled he felt by the Biyanga's (Governor Phillip) power over his Country and People.
It boggles my mind that a 24-hectare plot of land on Gadigal Country near present day Darling Harbour was named after a woman who was not of that part of Country, nor was she married to a man of that part of Country but was shamed, disrespected and ridiculed on that part of Country.
In Aboriginal Culture it is taboo to speak the name of a person who has passed onto the Dreaming. So much so, that other people of the same name must change their name so as not to cause offence or disrespect to the family of the deceased. It follows that this a curious naming convention of an entire foreshore precinct.
Regardless, Cammeraygal, encompassing the land from the lower north shore up to Manly fostered tribesman from neighbouring mobs to ensure safety and security for a long time. They watched on in horror as the Colonists arrived, a front seat to the beginning of the end of a time honoured and mostly peaceful past.