Professional Savages: Captive Lives and Western Spectacle

In October 1993, news flashed round the world that the mummified body of a North Queensland Aborigine called Tambo had been found in the basement of a recently closed funeral home in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. This macabre event brought to public attention the little known stories of the removal abroad, in the late nineteenth century, of two groups of North Queensland Aborigines.

Roslyn Poignant, an Australian based in London for many years, is an independent scholar, writer and exhibition curator. Recent concerns have been two long-term projects involving consultation with and the support of Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land and North Queensland: 1.The return of photographs, taken by Axel Poignant in 1952, to Aboriginal communities in Maningrida, Arnhem Land that culminated in an exhibition, ‘It’s About Friendship’: The Rom Ceremony in Arnhem Land and the book Encounter at Nagalarramba. 2. The search for the identities and narratives of two groups of North Queensland Aborigines removed overseas in late 19th century and displayed America and Europe, led to the identification of and involvement in the repatriation of the mummified body of Tambo to Palm Island in 1993, and culminated in the exhibition, Captive Lives: Looking for Tambo and his companions, and this present book.