Bunuba search for Jandamarra's head in museum archives

As dawn light crept across the Kimberley on April 1, 1897, the hot morning would become seared in Kimberley history. It's the day that Jandamarra was shot dead. The young Bunuba man had led a resistance campaign against white settlement of the West Kimberley for several years; sheep and cattle grazing had expanded, pushing out local Aboriginal people and turning traditional life into turmoil. There's been renewed interest in Jandamarra's story this year with the staging of a play at Windjana Gorge, his stronghold, an ABCTV documentary and an updated publication of Howard Pedersen and Banjo Woorunmurra's book - all named for the complicated character who defied whiteman's policy. Jandamarra was a wanted man, so his death was cause for victory by the authorities. And to prove they had him, his head was cut off, with a tomahawk writes historian Howard Pedersen. The skull was put on public display in Perth - although this was later found to be that of another Aboriginal man. Jandamarra's head had been sent to England for a private collection. It was sent to gun manufacturer William Greener, who had many trophies of birds and animals shot with his guns. Now he had a human skull to add to that collection. For Fitzroy Crossing's Joe Ross and other Bunuba families, finding that skull is of monumental importance

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