Talk:Fanny Cochrane Smith

Is the last Tasmanian Aboriginal person truly known?

The article on Fanny Cochrane Smith and Truganini both say that they are considered to be the last full blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal. Indeed the Truganini article states: "Truganini is often considered to be the last full-blood speaker of a Tasmanian language. The Companion to Tasmanian History details three full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal women, Sal, Suke and Betty" as well as Fanny Cochrane Smith. At this stage I have not looked into the reasons for the possibility of others although I would assume at this stage that as Cochrane Smith died in 1905 and Truganini in 1876 it would seem to me that the point in contention would be whether Cochrane Smith is "full-blooded" as the her year of death is far beyond Truganini.

Before going on a search for info does anyone know if the actual last surviving Tasmanian Aboriginal person has been conclusively decided and accepted by academia or government or is it one of those points of history where we will never know for sure because of conflicting claims? Based on the movement of people to Flinders Island to protect them (aside from whether it could have been successful or doomed from the start) would suggest that the government or at least Governor Robinson knew their numbers were limited or else they would not have bothered moving people. Is it accepted that all Tasmanian Aborigines moved to Flinders Island were "full-blooded"? I note that Wayne says in the below Talk section that the government only sent "full blooded" Tasmanians to Flinders Island which indicates that she should be, it would be illogical to send anyone else if it to protect them.

If there is no consensus on this point I propose making it clearer in the two articles, possibly involving other articles, that there is no final decision. Currently in both articles there is a mention in the introduction that implies that they are the last surviving Tasmanian Aboriginal and then later in each article the contentious nature of these claims is discussed. I would like to clean up the introduction to each and make sure that the claims of each one are discussed on each article and the points made are consistent across both articles. Thoughts? Stefanzi (talk) 01:00, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Is she of mixed race???

She have fair skin and European facial features. Axxn (talk) 15:34, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Definitely appears so. Compare her portrait https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fanny_Cochrane_Smith.jpg to that of Trugernanner (Truganini) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trugannini_1866.jpg - Heavenlyblue (talk) 02:37, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Only "full-blooded" people were settled on Flinders Island and the government recognised her as being full blooded in 1889. Black and white photographs can't be used to determine skin colours and you can find the same amount of facial variation in many white populations. Wayne (talk) 04:10, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Only existing recordings?

Both this article and the article for Truganini claim their recordings are the only ones that exist of native Tasmanian languages. They cannot both be right. 1.79.39.67 (talk) 17:33, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

There is no mention of a recording by Truganini. Smith's recordings are mentioned in the Truganini article, you may have confused them. FunkMonk (talk) 17:47, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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Government recognition as the 'last Tasmanian'

Despite what some non-reliable sources state (possibly relying on Wikipedia), the Tasmanian government *did not* recognise Smith as the last "full blood" Aboriginal Tasmanian. Contemporary reporting of her 1889 grant (e.g. Mercury article) states that the sponsor of the bill "did not propose to go into the question of whether she was an Aboriginal or not". The text of the bill (no Hansard exists for Tasmania at that point) as per the newspaper report certainly did not refer to her as the 'last of anything'. ITBF (talk) 12:55, 31 July 2022 (UTC)