The Australian War Memorial says it has identified the first-known Indigenous soldier to die during active service.
Private Walter Joseph Parker is the most recent addition to the Memorial's Indigenous Boer War list, where it has now identified 10 Aboriginal men who served, nine of whom returned.
Like many other Aboriginal volunteers, Private Parker made at least two unsuccessful attempts to enlist in the First Western Australian Contingent.
He was eventually accepted into the Fifth Contingent of the Western Australian Mounted Infantry, which shipped out from Fremantle on March 7, 1901.
Private Parker died of typhoid in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa in 1902, just one year after the federation of Australia.
Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson said Private Parker's history was found during an effort to recognise more Aboriginal service members who served in the Boer War.
"The inclusion of Private Parker's name and his sacrifice has now reset our understanding and knowledge of Indigenous service in the Boer War," he said.
"This discovery was made through ongoing research to commemorate the stories of First Nations service."
'Willingness to serve a country that was taking so much away from our people'
The Australian War Memorial's Indigenous Liaison Officer, Ngunnawal/Gomeroi man Michael Bell, said it was previously thought the first Aboriginal man to die in service was during World War I.
"Now that we've found the fate of Walter – dying of disease in South Africa – that takes that history of service, and sacrifice, and participation, and naming on the role of honour at Australian War Memorial back to the South African war," he said.
"It's changed our understanding of history, and the service and sacrifice of our men, and it reflects their willingness to serve a country that was taking so much away from our people at the time."
Mr Bell said the War Memorial's ultimate goal was to find words from the soldiers explaining why they served.
"Tracking down letters, or postcards, or oral histories of the men when they say 'this is why I went to serve', that's the gold," he said.
"We've got a few individual references to those types of reasons, but we can't impose that on every man."
Private Parker's story will be told and commemorated today at the Australian War Memorial's Last Post Ceremony.
