Name Yarri Yarri | Died 1880 | |
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Yarri (c. 1810 – 24 July 1880) was an Australian Aboriginal man of the Wiradjuri language group who rescued 49 people from the flooded Murrumbidgee River in Gundagai on the night of 24 June 1852.
Yarri's traditional name of Coonong Denamundinna indicates he was of the Rainbow serpent pastoral property near Tumblong, Adelong N.S.W. which was also associated with the Coonong region downstream of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales.
Yarri, and other Aboriginal men saved as many as 49 people in the Murrumbidgee floods at Gundagai, New South Wales on 25 June 1852, which killed either 78 or perhaps 89 people, out of the town's population of 250; it is one of the largest natural disasters in Australia's history. Local Aboriginal men, Yarri, Jacky Jacky, Long Jimmy and Tommy Davis played a role in saving many Gundagai people from the 1852 floodwaters, rescuing many people using bark canoes. Yarri, Jacky Jacky and Tommy Davis were honoured with bronze breastplates for their efforts, and were allowed to demand sixpences from all Gundagai residents, although Yarri was maltreated on at least one occasion after the flood. Long Jimmy died not long after his rescues, possibly from the effects of being exposed to the freezing cold and wet conditions. The rescue effort and reward to Tommy Davis are recorded in an old Gundagai Independent newspaper.
Yarri also saved John Hargreaves in 1844, and remained a friend of the family for many years, living on their Tarrabandra farm until his death. A nulla-nulla and shield believed to belong to Yarri, was presented to the Gundagai Historical Society by John Hargreaves grandson Dallas.
Yarri was also known as Yarree or Coonong Denamundinna, and is believed to have killed John Baxter on the Edward John Eyre expedition in 1841, and also to have killed a young part Aboriginal woman 'Sally McLeod' near Gundagai in 1852. Warrants for Yarri/Yarree's arrest were issued by NSW Police after Brungle Aboriginal people reported him to the police over the Sally McLeod murder.
Yarri's wife, known as Black Sally, died in March 1873, while Yarri himself died on 24 July 1880 and is buried in the Catholic Section of the North Gundagai General Cemetery.
Memorials
There are several tributes to Yarri in the Gundagai area including a town memorial, sundial, marble plaque and black marble headstone. A mural painted around the walls of the lounge bar in the Criterion Hotel in Gundagai depicts the scene. Yarri Park, a recreation area below the main street in Gundagai, commemorates his feat, and a sundial was erected in his honour by descendents of Fred Horsley, one of the people he saved.
In 2017 a Gundagai community committee, including members of the Wiradjuri community and descendants of those saved by Yarri and Jacky Jacky, erected a bronze sculpture in Sheridan Street, Gundagai entitled "The Great Rescue of 1852" in honour of the Wiradjuri heroes.
John Warner has composed a Song & Verse Cycle titled Yarri of Wiradjuri.