Corroboree on the Goulburn River

‘Corroboree on the Goulburn River’ was painted by artist Caroline Le Souėf in early 1895. Caroline grew-up in friendly contact with the local Aboriginal people of the Goulburn River Valley region, and developed an ongoing interest in their life and customs. Later in life she took up oil painting of Aboriginal subjects – reminiscences from her and her husband’s youth. During his teenage years Caroline’s husband Mr. Albert A. Le Souėf had spent three years at the Goulburn River protectorate station, managed by his father, where he gained lasting knowledge of Aboriginal culture and bushcraft.

The painting depicts a Corroboree of the Bangarang (spelt by Le Souėf as Pangarang) tribe in December 1842 as witnessed and later described by Caroline’s husband Albert. It is probable that this event was preceded by the fight depicted in one of Caroline's other paintings titled 'Native Fight on the Lower Goulburn River in 1842'. The events depicted in the painting took place on the site of what is today Murchison on the Goulburn River in Victoria, with the onlookers in the painting being members of the Oorilim tribe. The painting depicts the dancers just before the final rush which Albert describes: 'the dancing now ceased, and the men rushing into a compact body, stamped with their right feet until a cloud of dust arose, when with a sudden yell, each man threw his arms above his head, and they then retired into the gloom, to commence again.'