OODEEN, A MALAY INTERPRETER ON AUSTRALIA'S FRONTIER LANDS

2012/05/23 by Paul Thomas · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Philippine History and Culture #Multilingual Education and Policy

paper · doi:10.1080/13639811.2012.684939

openalex publication_date 2012/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

This article focuses on a 19th century government interpreter for the Colony of New South Wales, Oodeen, later known as John O'Dean, as an insight into early communication between European Australia and the Indonesian-Malay World. It reviews the subjectivity of the interpreter through his biography and the colonial administration's motivation in engaging him as an intermediary between Europeans and non-Europeans. Particular attention is given to Oodeen's presence at Fort Wellington, a military garrison and trading post on the north coast of Australia established to secure Britain's claim to the north of the continent and to trade with the Indonesian trepang fleets from Makassar.

Cited by

• Indonesian Australians [wikipedia]

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