We’ve all seen the Aboriginal man whose face has graced the Australian $2 coin for nearly three decades.
Few of us would know his name or tragic story, despite being hailed once as the ‘most publicized Aborigine in Australia’.
An image inspired by Gwoya Jungarai has been on the $2 coin since they replaced notes and entered circulation in 1988.
According to the Royal Australian Mint, the design brief for the $2 coin called for “a representation of the head and shoulders of a traditional Australian Aboriginal, a representation of the Southern Cross and a representation of Australian flora.”
While the design was not intended to depict any particular person, the face on the coin was designed by Horst Hahne from a drawing of Jungarai by artist Ainslie Roberts.
Other features are derived from Roberts’ imagination and visual memory developed after drawing thousands of images of indigenous peoples.
Jungarai was one of the few survivors of one of the last recognized massacres of Aboriginal people, the Coniston Massacre in Central Australia in 1928.
The massacre was led by Northern Territory police officer William George Murray and took place between August and November, in response to the murder of hunter Frederick Brooks, who had been killed by Aboriginal people earlier that year.
An image inspired by Gwoya Jungarai has been on the $2 coin since they replaced notes and entered circulation in 1988
Jungarai was one of the few survivors of one of the last recognized massacres of Aboriginal people, the 1928 Coniston Massacre in Central Australia
Gwoya Jungarai caught the world’s attention after Roy Dunstan’s photo appeared on the cover of Walkabout Magazine in 1936 and again in 1950 (pictured)
While official records indicate that 31 people were killed, historians believe the number of men, women and children slaughtered may have been as high as 200.
Accounts of Jungarai’s survival vary.
One described him “making his way between the demad and dying” in Yurrkuru to “narrowly escape death from a hail of gunfire poured upon him by men.”
Another claimed his father was captured by Constable Murray, escaped and fled with his family to the Arltunga region east of Alice Springs.
However, his stepson’s oral account of his stepfather’s arrest and evasion records that a policeman on horseback arrested and chained him before “carrying him around” to put on every soggy show.
“They leave him… tied to a tree, big chain… they put a leg chain too… Then everyone goes out and shoots all the people… They come back and see him – nothing! This chain he broke with a large stone and he left… to mine…”
Also known as Gwoya Tjungurrayi and Gwoya Djungaraim, the married father of three captive dingoes made and sold boomerangs.
It is said that when asked how much he charged for handicrafts or chores, Jungarai would reply, “A pound, boss.”
An elder of Warlpiri-Anmatyerre, he was best known outside his people as “One Pound Jimmy.”
In 1935, photographer Roy Dunstan captured Jungarai in an extraordinary image that would soon be seen by millions around the world.
Charles H Holmes, Melbourne tourism director, described his and Dunstan’s encounter with Jungarai: ‘While visiting the Spotted Tiger mica mine east of Alice Springs, I once met such a fine specimen of aboriginal masculinity as you would like to see,” Holmes wrote. .
‘Tall and lithe, with a particularly well-developed torso, broad forehead, strong features, and the exquisite bearing of the primitive primitive native, he rejoiced under the name ‘One Pound Jimmy.’
The following year, the striking image appeared on the cover of Walkabout, an Australian magazine featuring stories about travel, culture and geography, which attracted global attention.
Tourists flocked to Central Australia in search of Jungarai’s signature.
Newspaper reports claim that the publicity-shy Jungarai once shaved off his beard to be less recognizable.
His photograph graced the cover of Walkabout for a second time in 1950, the same year Jungarai became the first Aboriginal person to feature on an Australian postage stamp.
In March 1952, the Centralian Advocate stated that ‘One Pound Jimmy’ was possibly the ‘most publicized Aborigine in Australia’.
An estimated 99 million stamps bearing Jungarai’s portrait were sold between 1950 and 1966.
Jungarai died in 1965 at the age of 70.
Aussies were stunned to learn about Jungarai’s role in Australian history after his story was shared on Facebook.
‘Almost every Australian has seen his face. The next time you hold a $2 coin in your hand, take a moment to think about Gwoya Jungarai,” the post reads.
Gwoya Jungarai was the first Aboriginal to appear on an Australian postage stamp (pictured)
Many admitted that they had no idea about Jungarai before.
“How many would know the history on the $2 coin, thank you for the history/significance behind this native gentleman,” one wrote.
Another added: “I am ashamed of my culture and history. It is sometimes embarrassing to learn about Australia’s history, which has been rewritten, glossed over and concretized very quickly.’
A third wrote: ‘Should appear on all Australian coins, rather than members of a royal dynasty who have exiled their own citizens to a foreign land.’
Others called for Jungarai’s story to be taught in schools so that his legacy is passed on to future generations.
“These stories should be taught in school, this is our history,” one wrote.
“The truth hurts,” said another.
