page_title: Makassan contact with Australia
section_title: Effect on Indigenous people of Australia
hierarchical_section_title: Makassan contact with Australia / Effect on Indigenous people of Australia
context_page_description: Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi began visiting the coast of northern Australia sometime around the middle of the 1700s, first in the Kimberley region, and some decades later in Arnhem Land. They were men who collected and processed trepang, a marine invertebrate sea cucumber prized for its culinary value generally and for its medicinal properties in Chinese markets. The term Makassan is generally used to apply to all the trepangers who came to Australia. Some were from other islands in the Indonesian Archipelago, including Timor, Rote and Aru.
context_section_description: The Makassar contact with Aborigines had a significant effect on the latter culture, and likely there were also cross-cultural influences. Ganter writes "the cultural imprint on the Yolngu people of this contact is everywhere: in their language, in their art, in their stories, in their cuisine." According to anthropologist John Bradley from Monash University, the contact between the two groups was a success: "They traded together. It was fair – there was no racial judgement, no race policy." Even into the early 21st century, the shared history between the two peoples is still celebrated by Aboriginal communities in northern Australia as a period of mutual trust and respect.
  Others who have studied this period have come to a different conclusion regarding the relationship between the aboriginal people and the visiting trepangers.  Anthropologist Ian McIntosh has said that the initial effects of contact with the Macassan fishermen resulted in "turmoil" with the extent of Islamic influence being noteworthy. In another paper McIntosh concludes, "strife, poverty and domination... is a previously unrecorded legacy of contact between Aborigines and Indonesians." A report prepared by the History Department of the Australian National University says that the Macassan appear to have been welcomed initially; however, relations deteriorated when, "aborigines began to feel they were being exploited... leading to violence on both sides".
caption: A female figure outlined in beeswax over painting of a white Macassan prau
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