Australian Frontier Conflicts

Call for Marion Bay, Tasmania to be renamed 250 years after first encounter between Europeans and Tasmanian Aboriginal people

2022-03-07T14:13:15+11:00March 7th, 2022|

Two hundred and fifty years ago, on 7 March 1772, a First Nations man was killed in Tasmania'a south-east during a violent encounter between Europeans and Aboriginal people. Marion Bay, named after the French explorer, Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, the first European to encounter Tasmanian Aboriginal people when he landed at [...]

Invasion Day 2022–still divisive

2022-02-02T15:29:13+11:00February 2nd, 2022|

"Australia Day" continues to be devisive–some for it, some against Protest March, Canberra ACT, Australia, 26 January 2022. Photo: Jane Morrison As elsewhere in Australia, the pain of 26 January was felt strongly in Tasmania as images of departed ancestors such as Mannarlargenna, William Lanne, and Fanny [...]

Aboriginal Embassy still a potent celebration of protest

2022-01-25T14:07:56+11:00January 25th, 2022|

The Aboriginal Embassy was set up 50 years ago under a beach umbrella opposite Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia on 26 January 1972. The Embassy remains a stark reminder of the treat of First Nations peoples and of Australian history. From left: Ghillar Michael Anderson, Billie Craigie, Bert Williams, [...]

Aboriginal Embassy a ‘stroke of Genius’

2022-01-25T13:47:28+11:00January 25th, 2022|

The Aboriginal Embassy, Canberra, 26 January 2021. Invasion/Survival Day 26 January 2022 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Aboriginal Embassy on the lawns opposite Old Parliament House, Canberra on 26 January 1972. Photo: Jane Morrison Green Left spoke to Gumainggir activist and historian Professor Gary [...]

How the kidnapping of a First Nations man on New Year’s Eve in 1788 may have led to a smallpox epidemic

2022-01-25T12:45:16+11:00January 25th, 2022|

The Conversation, 11 January 2022: https://theconversation.com/how-the-kidnapping-of-a-first-nations-man-on-new-years-eve-in-1788-may-have-led-to-a-smallpox-epidemic-173732 Captains Hunter, Collins & Johnston with Governor Phillip, Surgeon White &c. visiting a distressed female native of New South Wales at a hut near Port Jackson 1793, National Library of Australia [nla.pic-an789041]

McAvoy advocates for truth commissions, treaties with First Peoples

2022-10-05T14:41:47+11:00November 13th, 2021|

Barrister Tony McAvoy SC advocates for truth commissions and treaties with First Peoples.in his 2021 Dr Charles Perkins oration.  In recent years, encouraging the broader Australian public to take an interest in Indigenous Affairs has proven both difficult and problematic, as it is commonly punctuated by calls for Aboriginal [...]

Following freedom fighter Fanny’s footsteps through the city of Perth

2021-11-09T18:11:05+11:00November 9th, 2021|

Read Lee Tate's fascinating story of Fanny Balbuk Yooreel, a Whadjuck resistance fighter, who the national Trust of Western Australia has brought from obscurity with a Perth walking trail on the 110th anniversary of her death in 1907. Fanny Balbuk Yoreel was unwavering in maintaining [...]

Did the founding father of AFL take part in mass murder?

2021-11-09T17:35:27+11:00November 9th, 2021|

In a recent article, Russell Jackson, delves into whether there is any truth in an 1895 Chicago Tribune story about the involvement of a pioneer of Australian Rules Football, Tom Wills, in reprisals after the 1861 Cullin-la-ringo massacre.  Jackson's story: "Experts add weight to discovery that sporting hero Tom [...]

Myall Creek Vandalism

2023-06-01T09:22:40+10:00October 18th, 2021|

Vandalism at the Myall Creek Memorial near Bingara, New South Wales was widely condemned in October 2021. According to the Friends of Myall Creek Committee, vandals damaged areas connected to then new sections of the Memorial site, one of three water tanks for the bush garden as well as [...]

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