If some of my comments that follow appear insolent towards Bungaree, I apologise, out of respect to his descendants, members of the Guringah Tribal Link, an incorporated Aboriginal group. They, like my mother’s family, have connection to the ‘Broken Bay’ clans of which Bungaree is a member. Bungaree was a victim of colonisation. No blame should be attached for what he did, however we as Indigenous people should learn from illegitimate leadership, for when it is imposed on us, it can, as in Bungaree’s situation, have negative outcomes for Indigenous Australians in general.

Bungaree gained notoriety for many reasons, but it is his attainment of a gorget as a mark of status that is of concern to me here. Governor Macquarie, in a naïve attempt to break Indigenous Australians of their nomadic ways, proclaimed Bungaree as the Chief of the Broken Bay tribes on 31 January 1815 in a rather flamboyant ceremony. He further proposed that 16 adults would settle on a farm with huts, a boat, supplies and convict labourers.^[30] Bungaree was issued with a king plate or gorget. This has its origin as a part of armour worn by a medieval knight. It protected the neck.^[31] In Australia at that time officers of the marine infantry wore them as a part of their uniform.^[32] Both the French and the English had used gorgets as gifts to Native American chiefs and warriors since the American war of 1755-62. The British and the Americans often recognised chiefs by the gorgets or they were seen as a gift to an ally.^[33]

Early Russian explorers to Australia observed that the British colonial government manipulated Indigenous people into positions of dominance assisted by the use of gorgets, bypassing leadership choices made by the Indigenous community. For example, Novosil’sky noted that ‘the English Government itself selects the elders’.^[34] By conferring the distinction of chief as in Bungaree’s case, Governor Macquarie made official a status that was usually based on an Aboriginal person’s individual loyalty and how useful they could be to the colonialist.^[35] From the Indigenous perspective, some say that Bungaree was nothing more than a puppet for Macquarie even though he had previously been described as a ‘worthy and brave fellow’ by Matthew Flinders. He was also was given a glowing character reference by Lieutenant Menzies in a letter to Governor King in July 1804 with respect to Bungaree’s skill ‘as an intermediary between blacks and whites’.^[36]

For Bungaree, kingship allowed him to establish himself as an important identity on his own terms, using Macquarie’s gifts. These suited his lifestyle, now a mix of Indigenous and Western.^[37] He attempted to transgress both of these. His entrepreneurial skills were exhibited when he realised that the British had degraded the land prohibiting traditional land-use practices, so he utilised the convict help. For several years the peaches that he produced from his farm provided him with a steady income.^[38] Sadly this income appears to have been squandered mostly on alcohol, as were the proceeds of the sale of most of the Governor’s gifts, including a much-treasured fishing boat.

Bungaree was the first chief appointed in Australia, issued with a gorget. This became a practice implemented across the frontier. Evidence suggests that pastoralists even encouraged the inheritance of titles from father to son to maintain control and respect for the title amongst the Indigenous group.^[39] Aboriginal groups would later spurn this tacky chestplate regalia that was associated with the British system.^[40] By the end of the nineteenth century, following the widespread collapse of Indigenous economic and cultural bases in southern and eastern Australia, ‘king plates’ had no meaning and became museum pieces.^[41] Bungaree’s influence as an illegitimate leader dissipated, as did his assets; in time even his gorget disappeared. In 1824 a new Indigenous leader appeared on the western plains west of Sydney town. However this leader did not grace the Governor’s pleasure.