Burnum Burnum

Burnum Burnum (10 January 1936 - 18 August 1997) was an Australian Bahá’í who was notable for his work as an Australian Aboriginal activist, notably planting the Aboriginal flag on the cliffs of Dover on the Bicentenary of English settlers arriving in Australia.

Biography

He was born Harry James Penrith at Wallaga Lake in New South Wales in 1936 to Charlie and Lily Penrith, but separated from his parents as part of the stolen generation, with his mother dying shortly after he was born, and he was raised in Bomaderry children's home, attending Bomaderry Public School from 1941, with his religion being listed as Methodist.

He was later moved to Kinchela Boys' home when he was ten where he was abused, with examples being beaten with a cattle whip for accidentally breaking a window with a cricket ball and forced to say "Look at me and you will see that I am an Aborigine." in front of his class. He was one of the few Kinchela inmates allowed to attend Kempsey High School and in the early 1950's he began earning a reputation as a talented sportsman. He intended to become a teacher, but entered the public service instead working for the Agriculture Department of NSW for thirteen years. In the mid-1960's he began undertaking activist work organizing lobbying and demonstrations which contributed to the 1967 national referendum which amended the Australian Constitution to grant Australian Aboriginals full citizenship and the right to vote. He later attended law school, becoming the third Australian Aboriginal to receive a degree after graduating in the early 1970's,

He first came into contact with the Bahá’í Faith in 1956, and in 1963 he met Hand of the Cause William Sears. He formally declared as a Bahá’í in 1969, and later cited the consistent love shown to him by Bahá’ís as the reason for his declaration and became active in teaching the Faith speaking at the first Australian National Teaching Conference in Adelaide in January 1970, and at a Bahá’í conference held in the Aboriginal Recreation Center of Northcote in Victoria shortly afterwards. In May 1971 he married Leonie Smith, a white Bahá’í and fellow law student, in Hobart in what was the first Bahá’í wedding in Tasmania and attended by the Lord Mayor. They attended the Bahá’í Oceanic Conference in Suva Fiji together shortly after the ceremony, although unfortunately the marriage did not last. He visited Alice Springs and the Northern Territory as a travel teacher in the 1970's.

He also continued his activism work after becoming a Bahá’í, successfully campaigning for the skeleton of the last full-blooded Aboriginal of Tasmania to be released from being displayed in the Museum of Tasmania throughout the 1970's. It was released cremated at her place of birth in 1976. In 1975 he received a Churchill Fellowship to travel overseas to study accommodation techniques in overseas hostels for Indigenous cultures particularly in New Zealand, the United States, Israel, and the UK. He also visited Bahá’í communities during his trip, regarding it as an opportunity to learn about the Bahá’í world community as well, and was in Samoa and Hawaii, shortly after William Sears was in both countries, and also missed him in Los Angeles, before finally meeting with him again when he attended the United States National Convention of 1975. He spoke at the Convention, noting American pioneers in Australia and the Pacific and conveying their love, and conducted a video interview with the Bahá’í National Information Office. He then toured Europe before going on pilgrimage. In 1976 he changed his name to Burnum Burnum after his grandfather both to honor him and acknowledge his Aboriginal identity.

In 1981 he was involved in attempting to establish an Aboriginal minerals exploration company to allow Australian Aboriginals to mine their own land. In 1988 he achieved significant fame when he visited England on the date of the Bicentenary of the arrival of English settlers in Australia and planted the Australian Aboriginal flag on the cliffs of Dover, stating that no harm would come to England's native people as a result of his invasion. In the early 1990's he ran for election to the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and received the highest number of votes, but was ruled ineligible for office due to failing to submit his application for membership in the area in the required time frame. He remained associated with the Faith for his entire life.

He passed away in 1997 due to a heart attack as a result of diabetes, which he attributed to being forced to eat large amounts of sugar while at Kinchela. His passing received considerable media coverage, including an obituary in the New York Times.

He had lived in Woronora in his later life, and in 2005 Jannali Reserve in Woronora was renamed Burnum Burnum reserve.