The first Aboriginal Resistance Leader in Australia was Pemulwuy. Pemulwuy was born around 1758 and died brutally in 1802. He was born into the Bidjigal group and was the leader of the Eora people. He led the Eora people against the British settlers in Sydney for twelve years. He is famous for this and for conducting guerrilla warfare against the white people/settlers while leading raiding parties and heading battle. He was regarded as someone who couldn't be stopped or killed and was feared by many settlers.
During January 1788 Lieutenant William Collins first arrived in Australia and raised the British flag. Many male convicts were occupying him. Pemulwuy was about thirty and had a wife and two children, a boy and a girl. He became a man when fire was placed onto his skin and grease, ash and ochre were rubbed into the wounds. His hair was then put into dreadlocks and painted with grease. After this initiation most men had their upper right front tooth removed. The men and women went around naked during the summer and wore possum skin cloaks in winter. They lived in small, bark shelters that could fit about six to eight people. .
To kill animals for food, clothiers, etc. and in battle, spears were used. Aggression between the Aborigines and the white settlers soon grew and not just single individuals were murdered but whole groups or clans as well. Many of the women were raped and were soon the bearers of white children. Pemulwuy was one of thousands of Aboriginal Warriors who fought for freedom.
1790 was the year that The British first noted Pemulwuy. He had killed a convict who was widely known to have killed many of Pemulwuy's people. This convict, John McIntire was a prisoner of the marines and his camp was attacked on December tenth. While the camp was reaching for their weapons, pemulwuy through a spear and it struck McIntire. He died soon after while confessing of his crimes towards the Eora.
