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Earl and his Indigenous Tasmanian ancestor, Manna Largenna.
Bondi Man Traces His Roots to Ancient Tasmanian Leader Words Anthony Maguire Images Anthony Maguire, Thomas Bock Eastern Beaches musician Earl Weir has just found out he has an amazing genealogical connection. An Indigenous man brought up in Victoria, Earl is a direct descendent of a famous Tasmanian Aboriginal figure from two centuries ago, Manna Largenna. He discovered the ancestral tie in late June while watching the SBS series First Australians, which recounted the interactions of Manna Largenna and other Indigenous people with British colonists. You see, several years ago, Earl’s mother Patricia put together the family tree, drawing from resources on ancestry.com and information from relatives. Right at the top of the tree was the name Manna Largenna. But they knew very little about him until the SBS screening. “In the Indigenous culture, we didn’t have actual kings, but if we did, Manna Largenna would have been one,” said 18 The Beast August 2022 Issue 211
32-year-old Earl, a Bondi resident for the last seven years. “In northeastern Tasmania, he was the foremost caretaker for the land and the people. What I found most interesting was that Manna Largenna was friends with the earliest European settlers in the late 1700s. His daughter, Woreter Moet Yener, fell in love with a white man called George Briggs who worked on one of the sealing boats operating out of Tasmania. She spent a long time at sea with him and the boat sailed all the way to Mauritius.” But when the vessel returned to Tasmania in 1827, there had been a tragic change - it had become a British colony. “Indigenous people weren’t allowed on the streets and their land was stolen,” Earl said. “Ultimately they were rounded up and taken to an internment camp on Flinders Island.” This turned out to be a death sentence for many of them.
“They were confined to tiny cells that were two metres square and not given adequate food. There were mass deaths from disease, suicide and many other causes. People say the spirit died on Flinders Island.” That seems to have been the case with the noble leader Manna Largenna. Seven weeks after arriving on Flinders Island, he passed away at the age of 64. However, his daughter managed to get released from the prison camp, rejoining the sealing community - and carrying on the Indigenous family lineage as she had a number of children. The descendants of Woreter Moet Yener mainly settled in Victoria, which was where, generations later, Earl was brought up. He spent his early childhood in Wurundjeri land - Melbourne - before his family moved to Wada Wurrung land the township of Barwon Heads. There he became a surfer and today he runs the annual Tamarama foamie surfing event, The Mullet Pro. Earl is proud of his Indigenous heritage and likes the fact that before the British invasion, Tasmania’s indigenous people and Europeans lived together harmoniously. But he is distressed by the way history played out in colonial times. “It infuriates me that people have been taken off the land and nothing’s been done about it, there’s no treaty. There’s obviously still a massive disconnect today.” Earl’s Indigenous heritage is displayed in the music he writes and performs with Eastern Beaches band Krystal Rivvers - Earl is the singer-songwriter with the seven-piece act. He says The Beatles and Spaghetti Western music are two major influences. Plus some people might hear other subtle overtones going back to the days of Manna Largenna.
