Woothia
“Woothia” by Chris D. (Canvas 2200 x 1400)
Woothia (wood-ē-ŭ), was born about the year 1845, and is Great Great Great Grandmother of the Artist. She is Aboriginal Australian of the Nanda Tribe from the Yamatji Region of Western Australia.
Woothia was born just before the arrival of 'White People' to the Shark Bay region of Western Australia.
The original photo on which the portrait painting is based was taken in the 1870s, and show Woothia holding her daughter Ngamba (Great Great Grandmother of the Artist).
One theory as to why Woothia is displaying her breast in the photo, is that she was positioned accordingly by her 'White Owner' to show the lighter skin of the breast in an effort to suggest that she had some "European Blood" in her; thus, possibly proving that Europeans had integrated with the local Aboriginal People sometime in the hundred years previous.
The first known Europeans to visit the mainland of Australia were the Dutch explorers to the Shark Bay region of Western Australia (homeland of the Artist).
The Dutch explorer, Dirk Hartog, of the Dutch East India Company first arrived in Shark Bay in 1616 to the northern tip of the island now named after him. Hartog inscribed his name and the date on a pewter plate and nailed to a post. This plate is the oldest-known artefact of European exploration in Australia still in existence.
In 1697, another Dutch explorer happened upon the plate and replaced it with a renewed copy, and the original was returned to the Netherlands, where it is on display in the Rijksmuseum. Further inscribed plates placed at the Dirk Hartog island site, in 1801 and 1818, led to the location being named Cape Inscription.
.jpg)
In 1712, the Zuytdorp, another ship of the Dutch East India Company was wrecked on rocks at the base of the cliffs 65km north of Kalbarri, now known as the Zuytdorp cliffs. The wreck was not found until 1927, and not formally identified until 1954. Of the few that have been recognised as discoverers on the wreck, was an Aboriginal woman named Ada Mallard (Granddaughter of Woothia and Great Grandmother of the Artist). It is speculated by many, that of the over 100 likely survivors of the Zuytdorp wreck, that some intermarried with local Aboriginal communities; specifically, the Nanda People (Tribe to which the Artist does belong). Due to many investigations, many believe that the Dutch were the first Europeans to settle in Australia and not the English.
Image Usage - see Terms and Conditions