Person

Windiitj, Tommy (1840 - 1876)

Born
1840
Western Australia, Australia
Died
February 1876
Esperance Bay, Western Australia, Australia
Occupation
Explorer
Alternative Names
  • Windich, Tommy

Summary

Tommy Windiitj explored various parts of Western and South Australia, particularly on expeditions with John and Alexander Forrest between 1869 and 1874.

Details

Quote from the ADB:

"He belonged to the Kokar people who spoke the Njaggi Njaggi tongue but was probably also fluent in the inland lingua franca, Kalarmai. Probably detribalized when young through an epidemic, he was brought up in the recently settled Bunbury district. Without formal education, he was well trained by elders in bushcraft and by white settlers in horsemanship. He was a great help to early land seekers and government surveyors, and accompanied Charles Hunt on his expedition into the country east of York in 1866. As a police tracker and native constable he helped in the arrest of the murderers of Edward Clarkson in January."

Published resources

Book Sections

Resources

McCarthy, G.J.

EOAS ID: biogs/P000189b.htm

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Cite this page: https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000189b.htm

"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260