William Barak ( September 1823 – 15 August 1903), named Beruk by his parents, the "last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe", was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, the pre-colonial inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore.
In his later life, Barak painted and drew Wurundjeri ceremonies and carved weapons and tools.
Early life and education
Barak was born in September 1823 at Brushy Creek, near present-day Wonga Park (named after Barak's cousin Simon Wonga), His mother, Tooterrie, came from the Nourailum bulluk at Murchison, Victoria. His parents named him Beruk.
Barak was said to have been present as a boy when John Batman met with the tribal elders to "purchase" the Melbourne area in 1835.
Barak attended the government's Yarra Mission School from 1837 to 1839. where he settled in 1863. He attended the mission school and converted to Christianity there. Barak became the Ngurungaeta of the clan. In the role of Ngurungaeta, Barak invited settlers to the reserve, Scottish philanthropist Anne Fraser Bon was a long time supporter and friend of Barak, including during the campaigns to prevent the closure of Coranderrk reserve. Graham Berry was also a key contact during the 1880s
Artworks
thumb|Figures in [[possum-skin cloaks, 1898 by William Barak.]]
Barak is remembered for his artworks, which show both traditional Indigenous life and encounters with Europeans. Most of Barak's drawings were completed at Coranderrk during the 1880s and 1890s, and several international collections.
Ceremony (1895) is housed at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, donated by Anne Fraser Bon. Bon's donation to the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery represents the first Indigenous artwork to enter a major public art gallery. Other state and national galleries also include one or more paintings by Barak in their collections, including the South Australian Museum, State Library Victoria, Museums Victoria, National Museum of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, and QAGOMA.
Barak's paintings are also located in international collections including the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, the Völkerkundemuseum Herrnhut, and the Musée D’ethnographie De Neuchâtel.
In 2003 the National Gallery of Victoria held an exhibition Remembering Barak to commemorate his life and work. An education resource was developed to accompany the exhibition.
A shield and a painting, gifted by Barak in 1897 to his friends, a Swiss family who owned vineyards in the Yarra Valley, were auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2022, by descendants living in Switzerland following the death of Pascal de Pury. The artworks were purchased by the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Cultural Heritage Corporation with raised by crowdfunding, given by the Victorian Government, and donations from the City of Melbourne and Melbourne Airport. Another branch of the de Pury family who lived in Victoria had earlier donated all the William Barak works in their possession to the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum.
Recognition and legacy
thumb|William Barak Apartment building, Swanston Square in central Melbourne. The facade forms a portrait of Barak.
In 1885 Anne Fraser Bon commissioned a portrait of Barak, which was painted by Florence Ada Fuller. It now hangs in the State Library Victoria.
In 2005 a footbridge called the "William Barak Bridge" was constructed stretching from Birrarung Marr to the MCG,
In 2015 a image of Barak was used to form the facade of an apartment building called Swanston Square in Melbourne. The portrait is formed by the white balconies against a black wall.