Dirk Hartog

‘1616 On 25 October arrived the ship Eendracht, of Amsterdam: Supercargo Gilles Miebais of Liege, skipper Dirch Hatichs of Amsterdam. on 27 d[itt]o. she set sail again for Bantam. Deputy supercargo Jan Stins, upper steersman Pieter Doores of Bil. In the year 1616.’

DIRK HARTOG (INSCRIPTION PEWTER PLATE 1616)

Dirk Hartog took an alternative route across the Indian Ocean, accidentally landing on the west coast of Australia near Shark Bay. He left this message on a flattened pewter plate before continuing for his initial destination Batavia.

_{Do you descend from a VOC sea-voyager?}

New Holland

‘Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth.’

MATTHEW FLINDERS (in ‘a voyage to Terra Australis’ 1814)

Australia wasn’t always named Australia. In 1824 permission was granted to change the name of the continent from “New Holland” to “Australia”. Meaning that before that, all Australians were in fact Dutch.

Dutch Aboriginals?

‘I descent from a far greater race of people, who are explorers, who had culture, who had life, and in today’s society, they are looked upon as leaders for human rights.’

WILLIAM MALLARD, MEMBER OF THE NHANDA

Some Nhanda have blonde hair, blue eyes and a fair skin. The oral history tradition of the Nhanda and Malgana Aboriginals contains references to cohabitation with Dutch mariners.

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