The Warlpiri Confederation (Aboriginal Australia)

The Warlpiri Confederation is one of the most prominent Aboriginal nations on the Australian continent. It was formed around the 1840s by the Walpiri people in order to stop increasing British influence on the continent.

Formation of the confederacy (1841)
With the British expanding and taking over many neighboring Aboriginal tribes in Australia. The Warlpiri people already had many confrontations with the British before. With these many confrontations occuring, it led to Chieftain Jakamarra declaring an independent confederation in the morning of June 7th, 1841. The Small Warlpiri settlement of Yuendumu became the capital of the confederation. A constitution written by Jakamarra and the Warlpiri elders was then put into place a few days later on June 16th, 1841. Jakamarra promised his people "We shall never be slaves to Queen Victoria nor any foreign power, we are Warlpiri and we shall remain so."

The Protectorate System (1854-1870)
After the Warlpiri confederation was able to establish itself and received weaponry from smuggling British rifles in from the British settlements. With the British still attempting to crush the remaining aboriginal tribes to absorb into Australia, Chief Jakamarra came up with an idea to both protect fellow Aboriginal tribes while also furthering the power of the Warlpiri confederation. This project became known as the protectorate system, in this project, the Warlpiri confederation would protect other tribes in order to slow British influence in the region. Because of this, many boardering tribes agreed to become protectorates of the Warlpiri. The three protectorates include the Kija people who gained protectorate status on April 2nd, 1854, the Gurindji people on December 5th, 1864, and finally the Warlmanpa people on August 19th, 1870. These protectorates and the Warlpiri are the only aboriginal groups who managed to maintain their sovereignty and not be absorbed into Australia.

The Death Jakamarra (1876)
On a rainy cold day on June 6th, 1876, Jakamarra, the head of the Warlpiri Confederation, died of old age. With the death Jakamarra, his son, Japanangka, took over as chief of the Warlpiri confederation.

The Japanangkaian age (1876-1902)
Japanangka was very different from his father, Japanangka began to work towards reconciliation with the British and Australians. Japanangka was able to establish official diplomatic relations with the British and even had a delegation to London. Japanangka's end goal was to eventually end the chiefdom and convert the confederation into a proper republic with elected officials.

The end of the Chiefdom (1902)
After almost 30 years of preparation, on June 7th, 1902, marked on the same day as the founding of the confederation, Japanangka stepped down as Chief and declared the Confederation to be a republic. This was done in order to achieve a more western style of government and to modernize the Warlpiri confederation's form of government, as a chiefdom was viewed as something primitive by many nations.

Bess Nunagarrayi's Presidency (1998-2008)
Ever since the confederation became a Republic in 1902, it has had many Presidents who could only serve one 10 year term. Out of all the Presidents, Bess Nunagarrayi became one of the most notable Presidents in the Entire nation's history. Under her presidency, she normalized relations with global superpowers such as the US and ended the confederation's long era of Isolationism which formed in shock due to the Great War back in 1914. She was one of the first world leaders to contact President George Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and sent 3 Warlpiri soldiers into the 2003 Iraq War. She also was the first Warlpiri president to directly meet a US President when she met then President Obama in 2014.