The historic Tasmanian site that's both sacred

SBS Australia

09-07-2025

For Tasmanian Aboriginal people Wybalenna, onFlinders Island in Bass Strait, is a sacred and painful place.
'This was virtually a concentration camp for the old people.'
That's Brendan Brown, better known in his community as Buck; his connection to the site is through Manalakina, a warrior and leader of his people.
He was made a promise: if he came to Wybalenna willingly and brought his people with him, he'd be able to return to his homelands in north east Tasmania.
It was a promise never fulfilled.
'My great grandfather was here, great great grandfather, he was brought here and made promises to and the promises were broken and he shaved his hair off and became a broken man and he died here with a broken heart.'
He says Wybalenna can be difficult place to visit.
'There's mixed emotions when you're here, I've had spiritual things happen to me here and I've had the old people come and visit me while I've been here, when you walk around you feel a lot of sadness here too, there's only certain places I'll go on this property, because of that reason.'
He was part of a sit-in at the site in the 1990s, which eventually led to the site being handed back to the Aboriginal community.
'I was only a teenager, when we come out over here and we done a sit in here on the property and took the property back, a big mob of us come from Cape Barren and there was a heap of locals here from Flinders, we all sat here and stayed here, occupied the place and took the place back.'
The Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania has managed the site since the late 1990s.
Rebecca Digney was its manager when works began a few years ago to make it easier for the community to spend time at Wybalenna.
'We're really trying to invite people back to this site so we can reconnect with the history here, and particularly reconnect with the Stories of our ancestors.'
She explains the significance of the site.
'Wybalenna is a really sacred place for the Tasmanian Aboriginal community. It was the place where our people were exiled to as a result of the Black War, and many of the people who were brought here died here.'
While some Aboriginal women were taken by sealers to other Bass Strait Islands, it's estimated as many as 300 Aboriginal people were exiled to Wybalenna.
There are 107 confirmed burial sites in the cemetery at Wybalenna, with the locations of many more not known.
47 survived the poor conditions and treatment at the site, to be taken to Oyster Cove in Hobart in 1847.
And despite the sadness of the site, it's also a story of survival.
'Wybalenna is definitely a place that conjures up a variety of feelings, its one of great sadness, it can feel quite desolate at times, but also it's a good reminder of what my people have been through and how strong they are. Our cultural practices continue, despite the attempts to Christianise our people here, our people survived against all odds, and we continue as a strong and vibrant community today.'
Sarah Wilcox is the now general manager of the Land Council.
"Wybalenna is a key historical place in our history, not just in lutruwita Tasmania, not just in Australia, but globally, it was a place that was recognised when the term genocide was penned, referring to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.'
The Land Council has been working with Tasmanian architect Mat Hinds on their plans for the site.
'We were asked by the Land Council to look at ways that we could help the place become more comfortable and that can be very straightforward things like bathing or places to cook or places to be together.'
Sarah Wilcox says it'll help the community as they continue to honour the memories of their ancestors.
'Making sure that there's space there for elders to come and visit so having that accessibility and those essential services are really important for their comfort and also for families so our younger generations and future generations understand that place, understand the significance of that place.'
The work so far has focused mostly on the Aboriginal community's experience at the site.
But improvements are also being made to the visitor experience – with information panels in the chapel being updated by the community.
'It's a really fantastic opportunity that we have here to tell this truth in our words and so all of the interpretation of Wybalenna is being told from a Palawa perspective, so the people who are visiting the site, I mean you feel it when you're there, but then the truth is there, in great detail from our perspective, of what happened to our people, what it means to us, what that place means to us, and so it's a great opportunity for people to learn, to listen, to understand and to absorb that truth.'
Accessing grants to do all this work has been difficult ... so they've turned to public fundraising.
'The generosity through those donors and those sponsors we've been able to get over time has been overwhelming for us it's an incredible and humbling experience in a way.'
Members of the community gathered at the site on Sunday to mark the start of NAIDOC Week. Land Council Chair, Greg Brown, addressed this year's theme - The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy
'It speaks to the leadership and strength within our community, past, present, and future. Truth Telling at Wybalenna most certainly acknowledges the true story and legacy for our old people here at Wybalenna, it also shows the strength of our community with our continuing fight to have our stories told and vision for our community with the interpretations and works here at Wybalenna. Our community is very lucky that we have a strong and talented pool of young people as evidenced by the young rangers over here and to continue and improve on the gains that we have achieved in past years.'
Jazmin Wheatley from the Junior Ranger program helped organise the event.
'I thought it would be really important and significant to come and do it at Wybalenna and just to honour our people and honour the story that's here and to get together as a community again.'
She said it was an emotional day for the community.
'It is a sad place, but at the same time it's important that we're here to take back that sense of pride at this place and honour our people.'
Flinders Island Elder, Lillian Wheatley was there too - she was among a group of eight adults and eight children who occupied the homestead in the 1990s.
She hopes the site can become a place of unity for her people.
'My dream before I leave is to see my people come together on this country and respect it for what it is and share their story, our old people's story, it's about them and what happened here needs to be told.'
Sarah Wilcox said the long history of truth-telling at the site … will continue.
'Truth telling is just part of our family history, it's what we talk about all the time when we're together so we've been doing it for a very long time, now it's about truth understanding and It's about truth acceptance and our people will always fight for a treaty.'
Something they've been waiting for - for around 200 years.