3. Truganini was the princess of a persecuted people, but she fought back to become an indigenous Australian legend
Truganini was the daughter of an important chief, one of the native Palawa people of Tasmania. However, she was never able to enjoy the pampered life of a princess, even when she married another indigenous tribal leader. That’s because she was born 1812 and grew up at a time when European settlers were persecuting the aboriginal peoples of modern-day Australia. The Palawa people were killed in their thousands, royals included. Truganini’s own mother was brutally murdered by settlers, and her sister was taken as a sex slave. To save herself, and the rest of her people, Truganini agreed to work with the Englishman George Robinson, though her cooperation came at a price.
At first, the union went smoothly. Robinson wanted Truganini’s help in re-settling the Palawa people on a smaller, uninhabited island. However, when the English became even more brutal in their methods, the native princess became an outlaw. She recruited a gang to help find and rescue her kidnapped sister. She was captured and charged with stealing from, and even killing, white settlers. Luckily for her, at her trial, Robinson spoke in her defense. Only the Palawa men were hanged for their alleged crimes. Truganini was exiled to Flinders Island, where she lived out the remainder of her days, a princess without a kingdom.