Anything But Aboriginal: The Colleano Family: The Aboriginal Circus Dynasty That Hid Its Identity to Conquer the World

Brian AJ Newman LLB
Jul 10
3 min read

By NATSIC-AS – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation – Advocacy Service CEO Brian AJ Newman

Few Australians have heard of Con Colleano, yet circus historians continue to describe him as perhaps the greatest tightrope walker who ever lived.

His story is extraordinary.

Not only because he became an international superstar.

But because he did so while concealing the very identity that made his family's story uniquely Australian.

The Colleano Family: The Aboriginal Circus Dynasty That Hid Its Identity to Conquer the World

A Bundjalung Family That Changed Circus History

The Colleano family descended through Julia Robinson, a Bundjalung woman from northern New South Wales. She married Irish-born boxer and showman Cornelius Sullivan, and together they raised one of the most famous circus families in history. (The New Yorker)

Their son, Cornelius Sullivan, reinvented himself as Con Colleano.

The Italian-sounding surname was no accident.

It was part of a carefully constructed identity designed to conceal the family's Aboriginal heritage during a period when openly identifying as Aboriginal could destroy careers and opportunities.

The Greatest Tightrope Walker in the World

Con Colleano revolutionised tightrope walking.

Unlike almost every other wire walker of his era, he performed without a balancing pole, relying solely on his remarkable athleticism, balance and courage.

His signature act—the forward somersault on a tightrope—was considered almost impossible and has rarely been equalled.

Audiences across Europe, Britain and the United States were captivated.

He became known worldwide as "The Wizard of the Wire."

Performing Before Adolf Hitler

One of the most remarkable—and unsettling—chapters of Con Colleano's career occurred during the 1930s when he performed in Nazi Germany, including before Adolf Hitler and members of the Nazi leadership.

The irony is difficult to ignore.

"The Aboriginal Man Hitler Never Knew: The Extraordinary Story of Con Colleano"

Watch the SBS story, ‘The Colleano Heart’: the story of a world-famous Aboriginal circus family. They counted Charlie Chaplin and world leaders as fans, all while keeping the secret of their Bundjulung roots.

Here was a man of Bundjalung Aboriginal ancestry, performing before the architect of one of history's most racist regimes.

Because his family had adopted an Italian identity and concealed their Aboriginal heritage, the Nazi regime regarded him simply as another celebrated international performer.

Over the years, stories have circulated claiming that Hitler praised Colleano after seeing him perform, with some accounts attributing comments suggesting he represented an ideal physical specimen. However, while Hitler's admiration for the performance is frequently repeated in biographies and documentaries, historians have not been able to conclusively verify the precise wording of any such remarks from reliable primary sources. What is beyond dispute is that Colleano performed before Hitler while successfully concealing his Aboriginal ancestry. (The New Yorker)

History could scarcely produce a greater irony.

One of the world's greatest Aboriginal performers stood before the leader of a regime obsessed with racial purity, and that regime never knew who he really was.

Why the Family Hid Their Identity

The Colleanos were not ashamed of who they were.

They were responding to the Australia of their time.

During much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Aboriginal Australians lived under oppressive protection legislation, institutional racism and policies designed to assimilate them into white society.

Many families concluded that survival depended upon saying as little as possible.

Others created different family histories.

"We're Italian."

"We're Spanish."

"We're Māori."

"We're Chinese."

Those explanations became shields against discrimination.

For some families, those shields remained in place for generations.

A Story Shared Across Australia

The Colleano family's story resonates because it was never unique.

Across New South Wales and Queensland, thousands of Aboriginal families quietly replaced one identity with another in the hope that their children would have a better life.

Today, many descendants are rediscovering histories that were never truly lost—only hidden.

The Colleanos remind us that Aboriginal identity has survived not because it was always celebrated, but because it endured despite every reason people believed they had to conceal it.