08/07/2023
For those seeing National NAIDOC being celebrated in the AFL and are uncertain of what it relates to, NAIDOC is a week of celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples' history, culture, and achievements over tens of thousands of years.
And there are Aboriginal connections to Krakow worth celebrating in the past few centuries.
Theodore Krakoer, born in Krakow in 1818, later moved to England via Berlin, Germany. After some indiscretions with the English law, he was transported to Australia in 1851. Here he would become the forefather of the AFL's famous indigenous Krakouer footballing family.
Jimmy, Phil and Andrew Krakouer all donned the Kraków PL city colours at North Melbourne FC Kangaroos 💙🤍 where they demonstrated some electrifying exploits on the field. After eight years and a final season that included their younger brother, Andrew, in 1989, Jimmy and Phil both departed for two seasons with the St Kilda Football Club and Western Bulldogs respectively while Andrew played on for one more year at the Kangaroos.
The next generation of Krakouers saw Jimmy's son, Andrew, make an impact in the AFL with Richmond FC and Collingwood Football Club whilst his cousin, Nathan, did so with the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Gold Coast Suns's inaugural team.
Between the Krakouers, they have achieved greatness in the AFL including:
Jimmy - Indigenous Team of the Century; North Melbourne FC Team of the Century; Syd Barker Medal 1986 (North Melbourne FC Best and Fairest); North Melbourne FC leading goalkicker 1983 (shared with Phil), 1986 and 1988.
Phil - AFL Goal of the Year 1986; North Melbourne FC leading goalkicker 1983 (shared with Jimmy), 1985 and 1987.
Andrew - AFL Mark of the Year 2011.
We also acknowledge and celebrate in this Poland.pl Year of Strzelecki, being 150 years since the death of Sir Pawel Edmund de Strzelecki, the role of Gundungurra man, Charley Tarra, in securing safety and survival of Strzelecki's groundbreaking explorations across the so-called Colony of New South Wales in 1840. In modern-day Gippsland (named by Strzelecki), Tarra sourced kangaroos and koalas to ensure their survival given limited rations after abandoning their horses in thick scrub. This ensured they were able to return to what the Kulin nations know as Naarm and what was then a freshly named Melbourne, home of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Australian football which takes much influence from the Aboriginal game, marngrook.
🦘🐨
On this journey, Strzelecki named what he understood as being Australia's highest peak as Mt Kosciuszko for it reminded him of Kosciuszko Mound from his time in Krakow. He also wanted to honour Polish national hero, Major General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, with a prominent landmark. Here he also picked a native daisy and sent to his love back in Poland. The Kosciuszko name was later transferred to the adjacent peak being the highest on the lands of Ngarigo people who are in the process of a dual name rather than removing the Kosciuszko name given all for which he stood and fought for.
Strzelecki also dedicated an entire chapter to Aboriginal peoples in his 1845 book, Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, which detailed a broad range of matters from this 1840 journey and included a recommendation to provide freedoms and protections for all of the traditional custodians of the lands.
🖤💛❤️🇦🇺🇵🇱