RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
The hyper-variable control region (HVI and HVII) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Tasmanians with an unbroken, direct Tasmanian Aboriginal maternal lineage were DNA sequenced. The lineage dates back to the early 1800s, as evidenced by published family genealogies (Mollison 1978, Ryan 1981, Plomley 1966, 1971, 1987, 1990).
Of the five distinct mtDNA haplotypes discovered, VI was found in living Tasmanian descendants traced back to a Port Phillip
Aboriginal woman who lived with European sealers in Bass Strait. Haplotype T2 is two nucleotide transitions removed from 1/WD 2 of van Holst Pellekaan et al. 1998 and therefore related to this Australian mainland Aboriginal mtDNA haplotype.
Vestiges of Tasmanian maternal mtDNA haplotypes from before white settlement, passing down through up to eight generations, still survive in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Aboriginal people are related and relatable to mainland Aboriginal people.
Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Published Papers
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.