DOCSLIB.ORG

The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land at Wybalenna, 1832–47

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land at Wybalenna, 1832–47 ‘ME WRITE MYSELF’ THE FREE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND AT WYBALENNA LEONIE STEVENS ‘ME WRITE TheMYSELF’ Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna, 1832–47 LEONIE STEVENS For Leon Harper, who is woke, witty, and wise beyond his years. An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. is work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) which means that the text may be used for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author(s) and that no alterations are made. For details go to https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ‘Me Write Myself ’: The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land at Wybalenna, 1832–47 © Copyright 2017 Leonie Stevens All rights reserved. Apart from any uses permitted by Australia’s Copyright Act 1968, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the copyright owners. Inquiries should be directed to the publisher. Monash University Publishing Matheson Library and Information Services Building 40 Exhibition Walk Monash University Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia www.publishing.monash.edu Monash University Publishing brings to the world publications which advance the best traditions of humane and enlightened thought. Monash University Publishing titles pass through a rigorous process of independent peer review. www.publishing.monash.edu/books/mwm-9781925495638.html Series: Australian History Series Editor: Sean Scalmer Design: Les Thomas Cover image: John Skinner Prout, Residence of the Aborigines, Flinders Island. 1846, paper lithograph, 25.3 x 37.7 cm. Courtesy National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Creator: Stevens, Leonie, 1962- author. Title: ‘Me write myself ’: the free Aboriginal inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna, 1832-47 / Leonie Stevens. ISBN:s 9781925495638 (paperback) 9781925523867 (Knowledge Unlatched open access PDF) Subjects: Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania--Wybalenna Correspondence. Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania--Wybalenna--Social conditions. Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania--Removal. Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania--Flinders Island--History. Aboriginal Australians--Tasmania--Flinders Island--Social conditions Flinders Island (Tas.)--Social conditions. Wybalenna (Tas.)--History. Wybalenna (Tas.)--Social conditions. CONTENTS About the Author ..................................... vi Acknowledgements ....................................vii Introduction ......................................... ix Chapter 1 40,000 Years to Exile ..................................... 1 Chapter 2 Exiled to Great Island .................................... 27 Chapter 3 The Promise of Wybalenna ................................ 71 Chapter 4 The Battle for VDL Souls ................................ 150 Chapter 5 Empire, Agency and a Humble Petition ..................... 218 Chapter 6 Defeating Wybalenna ................................... 260 Bibliography ........................................332 Index ..............................................343 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr Leonie Stevens researches and lectures in History. She has worked extensively as an editor, is the author of six novels, a variety of short fiction, and is addicted to B-grade disaster films. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge that this book was written on Wurundjeri land, where I was born and bred, and I pay my respect to Elders of the Kulin nation past and present. I also pay my respects to the authors of those writings from exile which inspired this study; to the Pallawah peoples past and present; and to Aunty Patsy Cameron for her generous support in the early stages of the project. This book would not have seen the light of day if not for Richard Broome, who steadied me through numerous storms. Working with him has been one of the great honours of my life. I am also indebted to Lynette Russell, Uncle Les Alderton, Katie Holmes, Henry Reynolds, Tony Ballantyne, Kat Ellinghaus, and the late, great Patrick Wolfe for their generosity. I especially honour the late Rhonda Jankovic, and thank my buddies Alan Petersen and Geoff Allshorn for their solidarity and the Code 7Rs. And of course, my wonderful family – Leon, Theodore and Alexandra Harper – ensured I was grounded, supported, fed, amused, housed and loved. Finally, this project owes a huge debt to the Journey of Nishiyuu. Stanley George Jr and the other members of the Original Seven, plus the hundreds of young warriors who joined them, inspired me from the other side of this pale blue dot in ways that mere words cannot convey. To the Seven, the Walkers and the extended family – especially my cheer squad Elsie, Rhonda, Robert, Crystal, Nancy, Jennie, Mary, Barbara, Gloria, Sandra, and our beloved Bob, who cel- ebrated every chapter completed and every deadline met – meegwetch! Flinders Island and the Furneaux Group, featuring places mentioned in the text. © L. Stevens 2017 INTRODUCTION What the Aborigines thought about their captivity or of their future is almost entirely unknown. They recorded nothing them- selves, and little of what they said is written down. N. J. B. Plomley, Weep in Silence1 The exile of the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen’s Land to Flinders Island in the 1830s and 1840s is one of the most infamous chapters in Australian, and world, history. A number of unique char- acteristics – not the least of which is the subsequent myth of racial extinction – have maintained its significance. In the long and often problematic historiography surrounding the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen’s Land, one voice has largely been ignored: that of the people themselves. When two Big River nation elders wrote to the Governor in 1846, protesting the conditions of their exile, they signed their letter, proudly, ‘Me Write Myself King Alexander, Me Write Myself King Alphonso’. This study takes them at their word. The Flinders Island Chronicle, sermons, letters and petitions penned by the exiles at the settlement known as Wybalenna offer a compel- ling counter-narrative to the often erroneous Eurocentric represen- tation of a depressed, dispossessed people’s final days. Seen through their own writing, the community at Wybalenna was vibrant, com- plex and evolving. The exiles did not see themselves as prisoners, but as a free people. Their lives were difficult and at times traumatic, but 1 N. J. B. Plomley, Weep in Silence: A History of the Flinders Island Settlement, with the Flinders Island Journal of George Augustus Robinson, Hobart, Blubber Head Press, 1987, 99. ‘ME WRITE MYSELF’ they were also full. They steadfastly maintained traditional language and culture, at the same time incorporating aspects of European culture and spirituality of their choosing. There were multiple spheres of power, authority, and resistance. This is a narrative history, but also by necessity a critical one. And like the traveller to modern-day Tasmania, before we can even arrive on the island’s shores, our baggage must be checked. There are now firm quarantine restrictions. Baggage Check If we imagine Van Diemen’s Land historical studies as a room, it is immensely crowded. The walls are well insulated, double-lined with the tomes, articles and paper archives of two hundred years of report- age and scrutiny. The reduced floor space heaves with men, women and children: Indigenous and transplanted, convict and emancipist, the famous, notorious and nameless. There are warriors, survivors, colonial conduits and humanitarians; seamen, sealers, soldiers and slaves. We find the gentry, the aspirants and the no-hopers; and, circling furtively, the God-botherers. Some are treated kindly by history, some ill, some not at all. The air is a pea-souper of ideas. Themes of Christianity, war, empire, race, moral responsibility, entitlement, civilisation and prog- ress jostle for space, tempered by profound guilt, anger and regret. Proclamations of victory often ride on a cloud of self-doubt. It is a noisy, argumentative, anxious place. In this room there are ships, sheep and firearms. And historians – many historians. Such is the vibrant, evolving, contested world in which this work is situated. This cornucopia of events, people and ideas will be examined in due course, but there are several key ideas which – x – Introduction demand to be acknowledged from the outset. They are so pro found to the popular imagination – and the historiographical tradition – as to give our room a false floor. At times, they obscure the foun dations. These seemingly core understandings unconsciously prejudice atti- tudes and assumptions. They distort readings of the present and expectations for the future. They are the issues carried by any study of First Nations history that originates from the academy. In our case, they stand out like a mountain of unchecked baggage. Some are massive trunks, suited to emigration; others are carry-on baggage, smaller but more insidious. Most are easily negotiable, but several are monsters of the mind.2 These prevailing narratives about Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) people in the colonial context, or issues related to the position of the scholar, form an undercurrent to VDL
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Benevolent Colonizers in Nineteenth-Century Australia Quaker Lives and Ideals
    Benevolent Colonizers in Nineteenth-Century Australia Quaker Lives and Ideals Eva Bischoff Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series Series Editors Richard Drayton Department of History King’s College London London, UK Saul Dubow Magdalene College University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK The Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies series is a collection of studies on empires in world history and on the societies and cultures which emerged from colonialism. It includes both transnational, comparative and connective studies, and studies which address where particular regions or nations participate in global phenomena. While in the past the series focused on the British Empire and Commonwealth, in its current incarna- tion there is no imperial system, period of human history or part of the world which lies outside of its compass. While we particularly welcome the first monographs of young researchers, we also seek major studies by more senior scholars, and welcome collections of essays with a strong thematic focus. The series includes work on politics, economics, culture, literature, science, art, medicine, and war. Our aim is to collect the most exciting new scholarship on world history with an imperial theme. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/13937 Eva Bischoff Benevolent Colonizers in Nineteenth-­ Century Australia Quaker Lives and Ideals Eva Bischoff Department of International History Trier University Trier, Germany Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series ISBN 978-3-030-32666-1 ISBN 978-3-030-32667-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32667-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • These Notes May Be Reproduced Free of Charge for Use and Study Within
    These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale. Page 1 Talking To My Country By Stan Grant Book Summary: TALKING TO MY COUNTRY is a powerful and personal meditation on race, culture and national identity, this text assists students to think critically about Australian identity, Australian history and the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples. Through this text students develop a heightened understanding and appreciation of the concepts of social justice and shared histories and how Indigenous history and culture are fundamental to the development of Australian identity. ISBN: 9781460751978 (Hbk) ISBN 9781460751985 (PBK) Stan Grant reveals the diversity of historical and contemporary Aboriginal cultural life and the impact E-ISBN: 9781460706817 government policies, legislation and legal decisions Notes by: Mandy Newman have had on Indigenous peoples. Curriculum Areas and Key Learning Outcomes: Australian history, English, Australian Literature and SOSE Personal Development. Appropriate Ages: 14+ These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale. Page 2 CONTENTS Recommended for Introduction Structure and Style Language and symbolism Themes Writing and Assessment Task Recommended For These teaching notes are intended to be used as an introduction to the study of Stan Grant’s text as inspiration for opinion writing, history study, writing essays, creative writing, or as part of any unit of work on Place and Belonging, Cultural Identity, Representation of perspectives of Australia, Indigenous studies and Australian history, English, Australian Literature and SOSE Personal Development.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-Indigenous/Aboriginal Relations in Australian Society
    2. Keeping Our Distance: Non-Indigenous/Aboriginal relations in Australian society Maggie Walter In February 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a national apology to members of the Stolen Generations. For Indigenous1 and non-Indigenous Australians alike this was a significant political and social moment. The intense media and public interest in, and scrutiny of, the apology demonstrate that the relationship between the original Australians and those who have arrived since colonisation remains salient, if not central, to who Australians are what Australians and Australia is in the twenty-first century. The terrain of this relationship is key to Australia’s self-concept, its identity as a nation and that of its peoples, old and new. Yet these relations are also highly contested. The image of Australia reflected here is a two-sided visage. One face—as manifested in the apology, the elevating of Professor Mick Dodson to 2009 Australian of the Year and the groundswell of public action in the March for Reconciliation in 2000—is openly encouraging of reconciliation and acknowledging of a historical legacy of entrenched marginalisation and poverty. The other face forestalls the prospect of formal rapprochement, casting as undeserved and unearned attempts at social, economic or political equity—a position manifested by the now long-stalled reconciliation process and the commonness of publicly expressed negative sentiment towards Indigenous peoples and culture (see, for example, Andrew Bolt’s 2008 blog in relation to the new Indigenous representative body). This distinctively Australian, but contradictory, picture suggests a country and a national identity ill at ease with the place of Indigeneity in its consciousness, one in which Indigeneity remains unreconciled with everyday concepts of Australian society and Australian identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Correcting Misconceptions About the Names Applied to Tasmania’S Giant Freshwater Crayfish Astacopsis Gouldi (Decapoda: Parastacidae)
    Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Volume 152, 2018 21 CORRECTING MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE NAMES APPLIED TO TASMANIA’S GIANT FRESHWATER CRAYFISH ASTACOPSIS GOULDI (DECAPODA: PARASTACIDAE) by Terrence D. Mulhern (with three plates) Mulhern, T.D. 2018 (14:xii) Correcting misconceptions about the names applied to Tasmania’s Giant Freshwater Crayfsh Astacopsis gouldi (Decapoda:Parastacidae). Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 152: 21–26. https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.152.21 ISSN 0080–4703. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, Australia. Email: [email protected] Tasmania is home to around 35 species of freshwater crayfsh, all but three of which are endemic. Among the endemic freshwater crayfsh, there are three large stream-dwelling species: the Giant Freshwater Crayfsh, Astacopsis gouldi – the world’s largest freshwater invertebrate, the medium-sized A. tricornis and smaller A. franklinii. Errors and confusion surrounding the appropriate Aboriginal names for these species, and the origin and history of the scientifc name of Astacopsis gouldi are outlined. Key Words: Tasmanian freshwater crayfsh, giant freshwater lobster, Giant Freshwater Crayfsh, Astacopsis gouldi Aboriginal words, lutaralipina, tayatitja, scientifc names, William Buelow Gould, Charles Gould. INTRODUCTION tribe in the far south. Plomley also lists a further two variants from Joseph Milligan’s later vocabulary: ‘tayatea’ (Oyster Bay) Tasmania is home to three species of large stream-dwelling and ‘tay-a-teh’ (Bruny Island/South) (Milligan 1859). It is freshwater crayfsh assigned to the endemic genus Astacopsis. important to note that these were English transliterations of Of these three species, Astacopsis gouldi Clark, 1936, known Aboriginal words, as heard by the recorders, none of whom commonly as the Giant Freshwater Crayfsh, or ‘lobster’, is were trained linguists, and interpretation of the signifcance the world’s largest freshwater invertebrate.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Very Own Treasure Island Dip and Swoop in Dense Flocks, Echidnas and Wallabies Rustle in Tasmanian Single Malts and Gins on Tasting
    Ferry Timetable FERRY TIMETABLE Bruny Island Berries Bruny Island Honey Summer Timetable Winter Timetable 1st October to 30th April 1st May to 30th September Depart Depart Depart Depart Operates Operates Kettering Bruny Is. Kettering Bruny Is. A world of history and mystery Bountiful Bruny Island 6.30am 7.00am Mon-Sat 6.30am 7.00am Mon-Sat 7.00am 7.30am Mon-Sat 7.30am 8.30am Daily Bruny is an island of rich history, rugged nature, pure air, sumptuous Taste your way around Bruny Island. As you explore our bountiful 7.30am 8.00am Daily 9.00am 9.30am Daily 8.00am 8.30am Daily 10.00am 10.30am Daily produce and spectacular landscapes. Tasmanian Aboriginal people island, call in and meet the local people who grow and produce the 8.30am 9.00am Daily specialty food and wine. 11.00am 11.30am Daily knew its cliffs, beaches and forests for many thousands of years 9.00am 9.30am Daily 12.00pm 12.30pm Daily before early French and English navigators dropped anchor in Here are just a few of the highlights: 9.30am 10.00am Daily 1.30pm 2.00pm Daily The Neck Adventure Bay and whalers ventured out for the hunt. Cape Queen Elizabeth 10.00am 10.30am Daily 2.30pm 3.00pm Daily • Raven & the team at Bruny Island House of Whisky, a multi award 10.30am 11.00am Daily 3.30pm 4.00pm Daily The island is a haven for wildlife – sea eagles soar, shearwaters winning venue, holding the most extensive range of purely 11.00am 11.30am Daily 4.30pm 5.00pm Daily Your very own treasure island dip and swoop in dense flocks, echidnas and wallabies rustle in Tasmanian single malts and gins on tasting.
    [Show full text]
  • Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788-1930: Sources
    Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788-1930: Sources © Ryan, Lyndall; Pascoe, William; Debenham, Jennifer; Gilbert, Stephanie; Richards, Jonathan; Smith, Robyn; Owen, Chris; ​ Anders, Robert J; Brown, Mark; Price, Daniel; Newley, Jack; Usher, Kaine, 2019. The information and data on this site may only ​ be re-used in accordance with the Terms Of Use. ​ ​ This research was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council, PROJECT ID: ​ ​ DP140100399. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1340762 Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788-1930: Sources 0 Abbreviations 1 Unpublished Archival Sources 2 Battye Library, Perth, Western Australia 2 State Records of NSW (SRNSW) 2 Mitchell Library - State Library of New South Wales (MLSLNSW) 3 National Library of Australia (NLA) 3 Northern Territory Archives Service (NTAS) 4 Oxley Memorial Library, State Library Of Queensland 4 National Archives, London (PRO) 4 Queensland State Archives (QSA) 4 State Libary Of Victoria (SLV) - La Trobe Library, Melbourne 5 State Records Of Western Australia (SROWA) 5 Tasmanian Archives And Heritage Office (TAHO), Hobart 7 Colonial Secretary’s Office (CSO) 1/321, 16 June, 1829; 1/316, 24 August, 1831. 7 Victorian Public Records Series (VPRS), Melbourne 7 Manuscripts, Theses and Typescripts 8 Newspapers 9 Films and Artworks 12 Printed and Electronic Sources 13 Colonial Frontier Massacres In Australia, 1788-1930: Sources 1 Abbreviations AJCP Australian Joint Copying Project ANU Australian National University AOT Archives of Office of Tasmania
    [Show full text]
  • Bruny Island Tasmania 15–21 February 2016
    Bruny Island Tasmania 15–21 February 2016 Bush Blitz Species Discovery Program Bruny Island, Tasmania 15–21 February 2016 What is Bush Blitz? Bush Blitz is a multi-million dollar partnership between the Australian Government, BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities and Earthwatch Australia to document plants and animals in selected properties across Australia. This innovative partnership harnesses the expertise of many of Australia’s top scientists from museums, herbaria, universities, and other institutions and organisations across the country. Abbreviations ABRS Australian Biological Resources Study AFD Australian Faunal Directory ALA Atlas of Living Australia ANIC Australian National Insect Collection CA Conservation Area DPIPWE Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (Tasmania) EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) MPA Marine Protected Area QM Queensland Museum RTBG Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens TMAG Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery TSP Act Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (Tasmania) UNSW University of New South Wales Page 2 of 40 Bruny Island, Tasmania 15–21 February 2016 UTas University of Tasmania Page 3 of 40 Bruny Island, Tasmania 15–21 February 2016 Summary A Bush Blitz expedition was conducted on Bruny Island, Tasmania, between 15 and 21 February 2016. The study area included protected areas on Bruny Island and parts of the surrounding marine environment. Bruny Island includes a wide diversity of micro-climates and habitat types. It is home to a number of species that are found only in Tasmania, including several threatened plant and animal species. In addition to its significant natural heritage, the island is the traditional land of the Nununi people and contains many sites of cultural significance.
    [Show full text]
  • The Law of the Image and the Image of the Law: Colonial Representations of the Rule of Law
    NYLS Law Review Vols. 22-63 (1976-2019) Volume 57 Issue 1 Visualizing Law in the Digital Age Article 9 January 2013 The Law of the Image and the Image of the Law: Colonial Representations of the Rule of Law Desmond Manderson Australian National University College of Law, Research School of Humanities and the Arts, Australian National University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/nyls_law_review Part of the Jurisprudence Commons, and the Law and Society Commons Recommended Citation Desmond Manderson, The Law of the Image and the Image of the Law: Colonial Representations of the Rule of Law, 57 N.Y.L. SCH. L. REV. (2012-2013). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in NYLS Law Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@NYLS. VOLUME 57 | 2012/13 DESMOND MANDERSON The Law of the Image and the Image of the Law: Colonial Representations of the Rule of Law 57 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 153 (2012–2013) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Future Fellow at The Australian National University, where he is jointly appointed in the ANU College of Law and the Research School of Humanities and the Arts. From 2002 to 2011, he held the Canada Research Chair in Law and Discourse position at McGill University and was also Director of the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas. A version of this essay appears as Desmond Manderson, Governor Arthur’s Proclamation: Images of the Rule of Law, in Law and Art: Justice, Ethics and Aesthetics 288 (Oren Ben-Dor ed., 2011) and appears in the current collection with the kind permission of the editor and publishers.
    [Show full text]
  • Intimacies of Violence in the Settler Colony Economies of Dispossession Around the Pacific Rim
    Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies INTIMACIES OF VIOLENCE IN THE SETTLER COLONY ECONOMIES OF DISPOSSESSION AROUND THE PACIFIC RIM EDITED BY PENELOPE EDMONDS & AMANDA NETTELBECK Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series Series Editors Richard Drayton Department of History King’s College London London, UK Saul Dubow Magdalene College University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK The Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies series is a collection of studies on empires in world history and on the societies and cultures which emerged from colonialism. It includes both transnational, comparative and connective studies, and studies which address where particular regions or nations participate in global phenomena. While in the past the series focused on the British Empire and Commonwealth, in its current incarna- tion there is no imperial system, period of human history or part of the world which lies outside of its compass. While we particularly welcome the first monographs of young researchers, we also seek major studies by more senior scholars, and welcome collections of essays with a strong thematic focus. The series includes work on politics, economics, culture, literature, science, art, medicine, and war. Our aim is to collect the most exciting new scholarship on world history with an imperial theme. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/13937 Penelope Edmonds Amanda Nettelbeck Editors Intimacies of Violence in the Settler Colony Economies of Dispossession around the Pacific Rim Editors Penelope Edmonds Amanda Nettelbeck School of Humanities School of Humanities University of Tasmania University of Adelaide Hobart, TAS, Australia Adelaide, SA, Australia Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series ISBN 978-3-319-76230-2 ISBN 978-3-319-76231-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76231-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018941557 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018 This work is subject to copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • The Boomerang Effect. the Aboriginal Arts of Australia 19 May - 7 January 2018 Preview 18 May 2017 at 6Pm
    MEG Musée d’ethnographie de Genève Press 4 may 2017 The Boomerang Effect. The Aboriginal Arts of Australia 19 May - 7 January 2018 Preview 18 May 2017 at 6pm White walls, neon writing, clean lines: the MEG’s new exhibition «The Boomerang Effect. The Aboriginal Arts of Australia» welcomes its visitors in a space evocative of a contemporary art gallery. Here the MEG unveils one of its finest collections and reveals the wealth of indigenous Australia's cultural heritage. Visiting this exhibition, we understand how attempts to suppress Aboriginal culture since the 18th century have ended up having the opposite of their desired effect. When James Cook landed in Australia, in 1770, he declared the country to be «no one’s land» (terra nullius), as he recognized no state authority there. This justified the island's colonization and the limitless spoliation of its inhabitants, a medley of peoples who had lived there for 60,000 years, societies which up until today have maintained a visible and invisible link with the land through a vision of the world known as the Dreaming or Dreamtime. These mythological tales recount the creation of the universe as well as the balanced and harmonious relation between all the beings inhabiting it. It is told that, in ancestral times, the Djan’kawu sisters peopled the land by naming the beings and places and then lying down near the roots of a pandanus tree to give birth to sacred objects. It is related that the Dätiwuy clan and its land was made by a shark called Mäna.
    [Show full text]
  • Tatz MIC Castan Essay Dec 2011
    Indigenous Human Rights and History: occasional papers Series Editors: Lynette Russell, Melissa Castan The editors welcome written submissions writing on issues of Indigenous human rights and history. Please send enquiries including an abstract to arts- [email protected]. ISBN 978-0-9872391-0-5 Genocide in Australia: By Accident or Design? Colin Tatz © Indigenous Human Rights and History Vol 1(1). The essays in this series are fully refereed. Editorial committee: John Bradley, Melissa Castan, Stephen Gray, Zane Ma Rhea and Lynette Russell. Genocide in Australia: By Accident or Design? Colin Tatz © Colin Tatz 1 CONTENTS Editor’s Acknowledgements …… 3 Editor’s introduction …… 4 The Context …… 11 Australia and the Genocide Convention …… 12 Perceptions of the Victims …… 18 Killing Members of the Group …… 22 Protection by Segregation …… 29 Forcible Child Removals — the Stolen Generations …… 36 The Politics of Amnesia — Denialism …… 44 The Politics of Apology — Admissions, Regrets and Law Suits …… 53 Eyewitness Accounts — the Killings …… 58 Eyewitness Accounts — the Child Removals …… 68 Moving On, Moving From …… 76 References …… 84 Appendix — Some Known Massacre Sites and Dates …… 100 2 Acknowledgements The Editors would like to thank Dr Stephen Gray, Associate Professor John Bradley and Dr Zane Ma Rhea for their feedback on earlier versions of this essay. Myles Russell-Cook created the design layout and desk-top publishing. Financial assistance was generously provided by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and the School of Journalism, Australian and Indigenous Studies. 3 Editor’s introduction This essay is the first in a new series of scholarly discussion papers published jointly by the Monash Indigenous Centre and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Miss Dalrymple' to 'Daring Dolly': a Life of Two Historiographical Episodes
    Articles From ‘Miss Dalrymple’ to ‘Daring Dolly’: A life of two historiographical episodes Nicholas Dean Brodie She was, German readers learned in 1823, ‘Namen Miss Dalrymple’.1 French- speakers were informed that she had ‘une figure trés-agreable’.2 Her claim to international fame was, at this time, based purely on her physiology. When this description was first penned she was reportedly the oldest surviving of the children ‘produced by an intercourse between the natives and the Europeans’ in Van Diemen’s Land. Moreover, she was ‘the first child born by a native woman to a white man in Van Diemen’s Land’. She was ‘remarkably handsome’, had skin that was ‘light copper’, ‘rosy cheeks, large black eyes’ with a touch of blue, good eye lashes, ‘uncommonly white’ teeth, and limbs which were ‘admirably formed’, ‘wunderschon’ even. This account of Dalrymple Briggs, written by the naval Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys based on observations made sometime in the late 1810s, was published in 1820, then quoted extensively by George Evans in his A Geographical, Historical, and Topographical Description of Van Diemen’s Land (1822), which was translated into both French and German in 1823.3 Dalrymple Briggs, by the standards of early-nineteenth-century inhabitants of Launceston, was remarkably famous in her own time, and may not have known it. Local fame came later, in 1831, when she defended her children against a group of Aborigines who had attacked the stock hut she lived in. That incident was widely reported in the Australian colonies and, for such events, relatively well documented. However, the story of Dalrymple’s defence of this hut has taken on fantastical elements in both popular and scholarly memory, creating a misleading image of ‘Daring Dolly Dalrymple!’4 This paper reveals how the telling of two episodes of Dalrymple’s life merged and became a narrative package.
    [Show full text]