Fate of a Free People: A Radical Re-Examination of the Tasmanian Wars by Henry Reynolds

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Previous owner has signed inside page, now covered with blank ex libris bookplate sticker. Marks on inside cover and synopsis page.

In March 1847, Queen Victoria was presented with a petition signed by eight Tasmanian Aborigines living in the Wybalenna settlement on Flinders Island. This is the document at the heart of Henry Reynold's reassessment of the black-white conflict in colonial Tasmania.

Long misrepresented as an unequal struggle between 'civilization and childlike savages', the 'Black War' is shown to be much more complex. The white settlers, at odds among themselves about the legality of their claim to the land, were unable to impose military defeat.

The Aborigines defended their ancient homelands with bushcraft and guerilla tactics but realised there was only one solution - a treaty guaranteeing peace in return for recompense and limited exiles. George Robinson's 'Friendly Mission' was successful because the Aborigines had this clear objective. Not prisoners on Flinders Island but a free people, the negotiation kept their promises through the colonial government did not.

Even now the black and white fallen of Tasmania's patriotic war are largely unacknowledged. Reynolds challenges us to face our colonial history and accord it the same honour as Australia's conflicts overseas. (back cover)