Burnum Burnum
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Burnum Burnum (10 January 1936 – 18 August 1997) was an Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, author and dreamer. He was born a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man at Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales (NSW). He was christened Harry Penrith but took the name of his great grandfather, which means Great Warrior.
As a child, he spent many of his early years in children's homes. While attending the University of Tasmania in the late 1960s, he led a movement to reclaim the remains of Truganini from the Tasmanian Museum for reburial.
It could be said that he may be best remembered for planting the Aboriginal flag on the white cliffs of Dover on the Australian Bicentenary Day of 26th January, 1988. This was his tongue-in-cheek way of claiming England, as Arthur Phillip had done to Burnum Burnum's homeland in 1788 when arriving with the First Fleet.
Prime Minister John Howard described Burnum Burnum as "a very gracious man and very strongly committed to the welfare of Aboriginal Australians".
Burnum Burnum lived in Woronora in his later life and was active in the local community. He died from heart disease on 18 August 1997. A portrait of Burnum Burnum now hangs in Sutherland Library. In 2005 Jannali Reserve was renamed Burnum Burnum Reserve in his honour.
