Death of Yagan, Noongar Warrior

Date: July 11, 1833 • Location: Wiluna, Australia

Yagan, a Noongar warrior, was killed for leading attacks on British colonists in Western Australia.

Yagan was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after Thomas Smedley, another of Butler's servants, shot at a group of Noongar people stealing potatoes and fowls, killing one of them. The government offered a bounty for Yagan's capture, dead or alive, and a young settler, William Keats, shot and killed him. Yagan is considered a legendary figure by the Noongar.