Burnum Burnum was an Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, and author. He was born a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man at Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales. He was christened Harry Penrith but took the name of his great grandfather, which means Great Warrior. As a child, he was orphaned at an early age and spent many of his early years in children's homes run by the NSW Aborigines Welfare Board, most notably Kinchela Boys Home at Kempsey. The Welfare Board promoted his achievements in rugby league and surf lifesaving at Kempsey in Dawn, and reported that he left Kinchela to become an Aboriginal pioneer in the NSW Public Service, working for the Department of Agriculture, where he remained for 13 years. He also played first grade Rugby Union for Parramatta, and both rugby league and cricket. While attending the University of Tasmania in the late 1960s, he led a successful movement to reclaim the remains of Truganini from the Tasmanian Museum for cremation. He may be best remembered for planting the Aboriginal flag on the white cliffs of Dover on the Australian Bicentenary Day of 26 January 1988. 

January 10th, 1936 in Wallaga Lake National Park  /  Died:   Aug 18th, 1997