Trukanini

These individual and group projects build on your research of Trukanini and encourage a range of creative responses.

The National Portrait Gallery invites you to share your projects online by uploading images, video, audio and text to the Portrait of a Nation: Australian Schools Portrait Project website.

Visit the projects page for more information on how your school can contribute.

Explore the biography and links to find more information about Trukanini.

Use a combination of text and images to create a timeline of Trukanini’s life.

The National Portrait Gallery collection includes paintings photographs, drawings, sculptures, prints, textiles and multimedia portraits.

Experiment with a range of materials to create your own portrait of Trukanini.

Create a short performance about Trukanini.

This could be a play, a song, an interview or a dramatisation of an event. Make a video of your performance or document your activity in a series of photographs.

Look up, my people,
The dawn is breaking,
The world is waking,
To a new bright day,
When none defame us,
No restriction tame us,
Nor colour shame us,
Nor sneer dismay.

These are the first lines from Song of Hope by Aboriginal poet, Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker). The poem was first published in 1974 for the National Aboriginal Day Observance Committee.

Compose a poem, song or story told from Trukanini’s viewpoint.

Truganini Place is located in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm and is named after Tasmanian Aboriginal woman, Trukanini. Street names in Chisholm reflect the suburb theme ‘Notable Women’.

What do you know about the place names in your area? Select a town, suburb or street name and write a news article about what you discovered.

Suburbs in Canberra are named after Australia's local and national high achievers, its geography, heritage and history. Each suburb also has a theme by which its streets are named.

Imagine your group has the opportunity to plan a new suburb. Create a map of your suburb with street names based on your chosen theme.