Indigenous Tasmanian words and singing - audio recording
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following contains images and voices of deceased persons.
During my research on the audio we recorded in the Tasmanian bush I came across a fascinating article in Australian Geographic.
The story is that in 1899, one Horace Watson made an audio recording of Fanny Cochrane Smith. Fanny was in her 60s and the last fluent speaker of indigenous Tasmanian language. During the recording Fanny talks about being the last of the Tasmanians and then sings in both English and her own language.
The photo shown here is frmo 1903. Horace made a series of recordings through to 1903 and in this photo Fanny leans in towards the horn of an Edison phonograph.
My personal reflection is that this is an amazing conjunction of events - not only were the audio devices used for recording and playback cutting edge for the time, but photography too was a difficult and technical art. Add to this that you have one of the last indigenous Tasmanians - documented both in pictoral and aural format and the only known indigenous audio recording. Quite separate to the technical and historical aspects you then have the audio recording itself - a voice recorded in the 19th century bringing us song from a people group whose lives have been decimated. It is a beautiful piece.
