Jackey Jackey (also spelt Jacky Jacky) (–1854), Aboriginal name Galmahra (or Galmarra), was the Aboriginal Australian guide and companion to surveyor Edmund Kennedy. He survived Kennedy's fatal 1848 expedition into Cape York Peninsula (in present-day Queensland) and was subsequently formally recognised for heroic deeds by the Colony of New South Wales in words engraved on a solid silver breastplate or gorget, which read as follows:
In the 1970s Australian school textbooks, such as Margaret Paice's Jackey Jackey, were published recording Jackey Jackey's life and achievements:
To the people of his tribe he was Galmarra, the Songman; to the men of the ill-fated Kennedy expedition he was Jackey Jackey, the young Aborigine. This slightly built teenager was to be their strength as they faced the mangrove swamps and tropical jungles.Margaret Paice, Jackey Jackey, Sydney: Collins, 1976 (Australians in History). Retrieved 6 July 2024.
The name "Jackey Jackey" since entered general Australian and Aboriginal Australian slang:
For whites it was a generic dismissive, denying blacks their individuality and hence their dignity. To blacks it meant a collaborator, the subservient native complicit in his own people's dispossession.
Biographical details As a young man, Galmahra seems to have grown up and lived at Jerrys Plains near Muswellbrook, New South Wales, most likely as a member of the local Australian Aboriginal nation: the Wonnarua. Tindale, Norman (1974) Online Portion of Map of Australian Aboriginal 'Tribal' Boundaries including "Wonnarua' (NSW) Accessed 15 May 2010
In April 1848, still a young man, Galmahra was asked to accompany and help guide Assistant Surveyor Edmund Kennedy and team (including botanist William CarronCarron, William (1849) "Narrative of an expedition undertaken under the direction of the late Mr. Assistant Surveyor E. B. Kennedy, for the exploration of the country lying between Rockingham Bay and Cape York;, one of the survivors of the expedition" Accessed 8 May 2010) on an expedition through unknown country heading up into Cape York Peninsula. On that expedition Galmahra proved his value (including bush skills) and turned out to be a loyal and resilient member of the expedition upon whom Edmund Kennedy increasingly relied until he died, speared by Yadhaykenu (a.k.a. Jathaikana) people in the northern Peninsula area (December 1848), somewhere near the Escape River.
Following an inquiry into Edmund Kennedy and other expedition members deaths, Galmahra became more generally known to the colony of New South Wales as Jackey Jackey: an Aboriginal Australian to be honoured for his loyalty, heroic deeds, and general assistance to the expedition. By March 1849 a lithographic portrait of 'Jackey Jackey' had been produced for sale,Prints and printmaking Australia Asia Pacific, Jacky Jacky (lithographic portrait by Charles Rodius) online database entry Accessed 16 May 2010 and by the beginning of 1851 the Governor of New South Wales had presented him with a specially made, pure silver breastplate (see above) plus a £50 bank account gratuity.regarding Silver breastplate.
Galmahra never wore the breastplate, never accessed the £50 bank account, and did not seem to have otherwise been fully engaged or employed by the colony. Instead he gained a reputation for enjoying his alcohol and, in 1854, after drinking too much during an overland journey to Albury, New South Wales, fell into a campfire and died.
Legacy
Several places in Australia have been named in honour of Jackey Jackey, including: Jackey Jackey Creek (also known as Jacky Jacky Creek), near Bamaga, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland Jacky Jacky Range, Shire of Cook, QueenslandSummits on the Air – ARM for Australia - Queensland (VK4), vk5pas.com. Retrieved 6 July 2024. Jackey Jackey Airfield, near Bamaga, Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, where there is a monument commemorating himJackey Jackey, monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 6 July 2024. Galmarra Street, Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory
See also Edmund Kennedy List of Indigenous Australian historical figures
References
External links
regarding blue marble plaque commemorating Kennedy - including both picture and recognition of Jackey Jackey.