You have to feel sorry for Yagan’s statue, almost as much as for the fellow himself. Famously the statue suffered decapitations twice. I don’t think the reasons were really discovered, or the severed heads and, as far as I know, the head choppers were never caught. Oddly the best view of the crimes would have been from Police Headquarters. The artist recreated the heads, but they changed a little each time. There were complaints at the time that the last one looked a lot like Ridge Forrester from The Bold and the Beautiful. This part of Heirisson Island is now fenced off, and I don’t think you can access Yagan with an angle grinder anymore. Just a continuation of the sad story of the bloke. This is as close as I could get from across the river. If the decapitator is out there, how about a shot of just one of the chopped heads? Please. You sound like a TWOP reader to me. According to the wikipaedia entry, the real head of Yagan, remains unburied too. A little birdy sent me a pic of Yagan with his original head with a couple of unknown young punks. No wonder they fenced him off. I finally got my chance to pixellate some faces too.
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The Worst of Perth 
I believe their was a spat between rival traditional owners over the location of the rest of Yagan’s body, hence the delay in reburying his head, as well as issues over which lot of decendents had the actual authority to do the ceremony etc.
The whole saga is the similar to The Bold And The Beautiful – in regards of relationships etc.
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Oh, and I forgot to add that despite and expensive scientific search of the Swan Valley area where Yagan was supposed to have lived has failed to find the rest of his body.
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Update:
Yagan’s Head to be buried in a Memorial Park in Belhus.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/05/2508739.htm
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So the real head is now where Frank? I always think “poor bastard” when I hear the name Yagan. The statue stuff just seems appropriate to the whole sad story.
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The Real head is sitting in a Bank vault .
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E3DC113DF935A35753C1A961958260
Apparently there was a real bitchfight between rival groups of elders over who had ancestral rights etc.
Wikipedia article on Alston’s Cartoon at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alas_Poor_Yagan
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And here is the proper Wikipedia entry for Yagan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yagan
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oh and I just noticed Lazy Aussie had linked to the Yagan wiki entry I just posted :-)
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Missing head is the least of yagans worries. Its just a terrible statue. Woeful. Passe’. Mediocre. Completely average figurative abilities.
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The guy who did the sculpture is my Uncle and for someone who spends most of his time sculpting naked ladies and horses, I guess he didn’t have much practise with naked men.
Or maybe his incredible ego just got in the way of what limited creative talent he may once have possessed.
Did that sound bitchy?
It did?
Good, I meant it to.
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lol just read the policy page. Hope slagging off my Uncle isn’t overstepping the line!
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Uncle slagging is specifically encouraged Nettie. However, he will probably see this, and cut you out of will.
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There have also been several ludicrous and stupid attempts to cover up Yagan’s willie. Another attack on the poor bastard. I would suggest that Netties uncle fire up the forge and craft an organ of appropriate proportion. Something that would stop a wine cruise boat in its tracks. I suggest the smelter at Port Kembla might be required, since we don’t do enough downstream ore processing here.
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Dear Nettie – you have cofessed to being the neice of dear old Bob H! Thank god you are no relative fof the Smiths… or are you? are you?! say no… Please say no
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God no Mez, being associated with Bob is bad enough.
LA no chance of being cut out of a will you were never in!
Let’s just say that that side of the family ain’t exactly close. I doubt dear Uncle Robert would even recognise me if I passed him on the street. It’s taken me a good fifteen years of hard work in avoiding them to get this result and hopefully it will last!
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That’s a very ordinary statue. I’ve not seen it before, but it appears to be a bog standard, classical, muscular torso and limbs topped with the head and hairstyle of a 1930s Hollywood starlet. About the only thing I can see which is distinctively Aboriginal is the spear (and even that appears more like a weightlifters barbell halfway through a lift).
I would take a lot of persuading that Yagan actually looked like that or even remotely similar.
How about a campaign for a proper (ie competently executed rather than lifted from stock sources) statue of Yagan?
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Thats definately good idea TIB problem with lots of these aussie memorialisations of various identities ;-schmaltzy and moderate depictions allowed only[gets in the way of australian culture being less shallow]. One imagines this would esp apply to an aboriginal monument. And its a shame. I’m sure there would be a compulsion to have the word sorry dominate its symbology as well. Effecting such a monument as anything other than political propaganda.
And as with architecture any commissioning out of important projects such as our public and other major building infrastructure including monuments should not only be given over to the politicians and local councilors [and their business mates] to decide but this needs to have input from a panel of independant art professionals, and the public [at least the ones concerned about good design etc],
over last twenty odd years in this era of extremely high standard quality of architecture[one of the greatest and most creative periods for architecture ever] most of it just doesnt come australia’s way through lack of open procedures.
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The statue is in a fenced-off area, but it’s designed to keep the kangaroos in, not the humans out. So you can still get to Yagan if you feel the need to take a few photos with him :)
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Speaking of the Beheading of Yagan, I found this Australian Scren entry, complete with video clips relating to the beheadings.
http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/confessions-headhunter/
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Erl the statue makes me feel sick.
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These a lot of aboriginal in the Perth jail the best thing for you is to stay away from them
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Stay away from the jail? Sound advice.
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Not advice, a threat, sheesh you metrosexuals!
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Wot?
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Hi your comment got me here listen up good when the white man come on the ship he didn’t have a wife he was a convict he row his ship to shore where he met the native aboriginal women that he rape and killed the children and men
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I…guess…so. I think.
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Hi Kevin. I didn’t vote for you but when you apologised on my behalf some years back I thought it was all resolved. I certainly felt relieved. Whew! Now you’re telling me it’s not?
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