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Aboriginal Colonisation and Contact
What is Colonisation
The Dreaming
Indigenous Spiritual Life and the Land
Indigenous Law
Sharing Knowledge
Indigenous Art
Early Visitors
Colonisation
The Myall Creek Masacre
What is Colonisation?
Colonisation is the forming of a settlement or colony by a group of people who
seek to take control of territories or countries.
It usually involves large-scale immigration of people to a 'new' location and the
expansion of their civilisation and culture into this area.
Colonisation can involve dominating the original inhabitants of the area, known
as the indigenous population. The modern world has been shaped by thousands
of years of colonisation.
From ancient times, through the middle ages and to the modern era, people have
travelled to and settled in new areas and countries.
As people moved, they came into contact with other people and cultures.
Sometimes there was conflict leading to the destruction of the indigenous people
and their culture. Other times there was exchange of knowledge, goods and
traditions.
This unit looks at colonisation and then explores the nature of colonisation and its
impact on indigenous cultures, particularly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples of Australia.
The Dreaming
Australian human history did not just start when
the first white settlers arrived in 1788. It began
when the first inhabitants arrived over 50,000
years ago during the last Ice Age.
These first inhabitants are known as Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (from the Latin
word aborigine, meaning from the origin or
beginning), and gradually spread out to cover the
whole of Australia.
By the time Captain Cook reached Australia in
1770, there were probably at least 750,000
Indigenous peoples living in Australia. The
Indigenous population was divided into up to 600
different language groups but they all believed
that the world was formed in the distant past
during a sacred era known as the 'Dreamtime' or
'Dreaming'.
The survival of the Indigenous peoples depended on their knowledge and understanding
of the land. They needed to know the seasons and when and where the various types of
food were available. It was essential that the land was protected, as it was needed for
survival. They did this by passing on knowledge of the land and its creation through
stories, songs, ceremonies, dances and art. The closest English word for this knowledge
of the land and its creation is the Dreaming.
The Dreaming (2)
The Dreaming is a unifying characteristic of all Indigenous
culture, but each group within Australia had its own
particular Dreaming.
The Dreaming of a group explained how features of their
world came to be, and explained the significance of their
own sacred sites. It also set out the rules of how people
should behave, particularly towards the land.
The Dreaming gave meaning and direction to the lives of
each Indigenous group, and continues to do so.
Spirit Ancestors
The Dreaming explains the beginnings and culture of the land and its people,
sometimes called the Creation.
In the beginning, the Indigenous peoples' spirit ancestors came from the
ground, sky and seas. Many of these ancestors could change their form, from
human to plant to animal. As they travelled over the land they created its
natural features and all its life forms, including the plants, animals, insects, fish,
birds and people.
When the Creation was over, the spirit ancestors disappeared into the earth,
water or sky, though they left behind signs of their time on earth. These signs
were in the form of caves, hills, rivers, billabongs, trees, rocks and other natural
features of the landscape.
The spirit ancestors' power can still be felt through the land and its life forms.
The ancestral beings did not really die; they lived on in different forms and their
spirits survive. Through this, the past continues to have strong connections to
the present; and is why the Indigenous peoples have a duty to protect the land,
its plants and animals and to care for the sacred places.
Preserving the Dreaming
Indigenous peoples celebrate and relive
Dreaming in ceremonies, songs and stories.
the
For example, stories about the Rainbow Serpent or
how the sun was made are told so that links with
their ancestors are preserved. Ceremonies and other
rituals are used to pass on the Dreaming secrets to
the next generation.
By passing on the Dreaming secrets to the next
generation, it means the land and living things are
cared for and the links to the past are preserved.
Dreaming Legends
The Dreaming stories or legends from
all areas of Australia show that
Indigenous Australians believed in a
Supreme Creator or Great Spirit. The
Great Spirit was known by different
names in different areas, such as
Byamee, Wandjina and Nargacork.
The Great Spirit was responsible for watching and
helping the different groups of Indigenous
people; and often sent spirit helpers to show
them how to do things, for instance, lighting fires
or trapping fish.
Dreaming Legends (2)
Another story, and one that
many Indigenous groups had in
common, was the one about
the Rainbow Serpent. The
Rainbow Serpent arrived on the
land and began to slide from
place to place, creating the deep
gorges, rivers, mountains and
valleys in the shape of its body. It
is believed that the Rainbow
Serpent continues to live on in
the world today in a secret sacred place, and that the rainbows seen in
the sky are a reflection of the creature.
Many of the Dreaming legends, particularly those that tell of great
floods, volcanoes and giant animals were actually based on fact.
Archaeological evidence shows that the land and animal life did change
in Australia during Indigenous habitation. This shows the success of the
ceremonies and rituals in passing down stories and secrets from
generation to generation.
The land: Spirit, clans and survival
Indigenous peoples depended on the land for their
survival. They lived in groups within a territory and
survived by fishing, hunting, and gathering plants,
and using other resources that the land had to offer.
Most groups were semi-nomadic, meaning they
moved around within the territory to find food. The
land not only provided food and resources, but also
formed the basis for their spiritual life, as well as the
family and social structure.
This is why the land is so significant in Indigenous
culture; and why the arrival of the Europeans caused
so many problems for traditional Indigenous society.
Indigenous spiritual life and the land
The Indigenous peoples' relationship to the land was very different to
the way Europeans viewed the land. Individuals within Indigenous
society did not own the land as the Europeans did; rather, Indigenous
people viewed the land as owning them. The land was handed down to
them from the previous generations and it was their duty to care for it.
The land is the spiritual home of the Indigenous ancestors, and the
ancestral spirits are still part of the land - in its rocks, plants and animals.
The ancestors, who travelled across Australia at the beginning of time,
established the land boundaries between different Indigenous groups
and the sacred sites.
Each clan's land has sites that are sacred, or of spiritual significance.
Groups or individuals are responsible for these places and must care for
them and keep them free from unauthorised visitors. Even today, as in
the past, Indigenous clans hold deep spiritual links with their lands
which were formed in the Dreaming.
Indigenous social structures
Indigenous groups lived in territories with other groups
that spoke a common language and shared similar customs
and beliefs. Before the arrival of the Europeans, there
could have been up to 600 different language groups
within Australia.
The basic social unit in Indigenous society is the family.
Small groups of families lived together and formed a
'band'.
Some bands would consist of several families living and
hunting together. The size of a band would ultimately
depend on how much food was available within the
territory. This would vary at different times of the year
depending on factors such as the season or rainfall.
Clans
In a band there are different clans. Clans are groups of people related by
descent from a common ancestor, sometimes human, sometimes nonhuman.
They could be descended from the Possum ancestor or Kangaroo
ancestor or any other ancestral being from the Dreaming. Clans are the
major political unit in Indigenous society and guard their spirit homes,
including their sacred sites and their rituals, totems and songs.
People cannot marry members of the same clan. Because bands
comprise married people with families, their members represent a
number of different clans. This means that in a band there may be
Possum people married to Kangaroo people, or Magpie people married
to Snake people.
A whole clan would come together at different times of the year; when
there was plenty of food to share, to carry out ceremonial rituals, to
arrange marriages and to settle inter-clan disputes. If there was a major
ceremony a number of clans would meet together.
Land and survival
Indigenous peoples used the land and its resources to survive.
How easy it was for them to survive depended on the
environment they were living in. Indigenous peoples living in
the desert in central Australia would have found it harder to
survive than those living by large rivers or on the coast.
The type of food gathered also depended on the type of
environment the group was living in. Sometimes there was an
abundance of kangaroos and other game but at other times the
band had to survive by eating plants and smaller animals and
insects. In general, Indigenous bands just gathered enough food
for immediate use; they did not usually store or grow food.
Aboriginal Colonisation and Contact
The Indigenous peoples also used the land to provide the material with which they used
to hunt and gather the food.
They made canoes from bark; spears, boomerangs and digging sticks from wood; baskets
from grasses and knives and other blades from rocks. Indigenous people did not practice
agriculture as Europeans did but there is evidence that they made use of firestick farming
and other methods to obtain food.
Firestick farming was when the land was burnt so that it cleared out the undergrowth
and produced new growth. The new growth after the fire attracted more other to the
area which made it easier for hunting. Some Indigenous bands also made traps to catch
eels and fish and most groups traded items such as food, shells, and plants when they
travelled across other territories.
Land was vitally important for Indigenous survival and spiritual life, but it also was an
important factor in Indigenous laws and rules.
Indigenous Law
The British view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples was that they had no real social
organisation, no government, no laws, and no rights
over the land.
When Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay on 17 April
1770, he noted that he 'never saw one inch of
cultivated land in the whole colony'.
This reinforced the British view that people were not
in possession of the land, and so the land was 'terra
nullius' or 'land belonging to no one'.
By European law, if the land was not being used, then
those who found it first could claim it. Of course, we
now know that Indigenous people did have a very
close and deep-rooted relationship with the land and
they did have laws to rule their behaviour.
The Dreaming and Indigenous law
The Dreaming provided Indigenous people with
laws to rule their behaviour. The ancestral beings
decided the rights, responsibilities, and
behaviours of all things in the land.
These laws typically covered what foods could be
eaten and how the food should be shared, the
punishments if laws were broken, the rules for
family, marriage and social organisation, the rules
for looking after land and the sacred sites, and
the rules for ceremonies and rituals.
Learning about the law
Indigenous peoples were taught from early
childhood what the law allowed and what it
did not allow. They were taught these things
through stories, music, art, dance and other
ceremonies. Indigenous children grew up
being familiar with their own laws and with
their daily rights and obligations.
They knew both the spiritual dangers and what punishments were given to people who
broke the law. They witnessed the process of punishment and how cases were argued
and decided. The most important thing for Indigenous children to learn was the
appropriate way to behave towards the land and other people within the family. Stories
were told that taught children how to behave.
One story from the Goulburn Islands, off the coast of Arnhem Land, tells of a greedy boy.
He made so much noise that the Dreaming being, the Rainbow Serpent heard him and
swallowed the boy and his friends and family.
The process of law
Indigenous people living in Australia prior to white settlement did not have governments or
law courts to decide disputes and punishments. Rather, the process of law was one of
negotiation that involved most members of the community.
Particular arguments that could not be settled informally could be settled by a group of people
known as elders. Elders were usually men who had great experience and knowledge of sacred
matters and were viewed as teachers rather than judges.
Offences and punishments
Theft, adultery, unauthorised physical assault, and insult and neglect of family and clan
obligations were offences that were considered unlawful. Punishments could range from
having to face a squad of spearmen with only a shield as protection, to making compensation.
There was no such thing as a jail in Indigenous life. Punishments (either actual or ceremonial)
were given out and normal life was resumed as soon as possible.
Sometimes there were disputes between various Indigenous groups. These disputes were
settled by negotiation, ritual punishment or formal battles.
Settling disputes under Indigenous law was part of the purpose of the great gatherings of
Indigenous groups that took place occasionally, particularly when there was plenty of food for
many people. Groups would hold major ceremonies and they would trade materials and
objects, teach each other new songs and dances along with settling disputes and making
marriage arrangements.
Arrival of the British and the Law
When the British did begin to settle in Australia, from
1788, there was much conflict with the Indigenous
peoples.
One major source of conflict was the differences
between Indigenous law and British law. These
differences still exist today, though efforts are being
made to recognise traditional Indigenous law in the
Australian legal system.
Sharing knowledge, conserving information and
history
Indigenous culture is one which shares knowledge and passes down
information from generation to generation.
Indigenous children learned everything they needed to know from their
family.
They learnt about the Dreaming, the land, sacred sites, catching and
collecting food and finding water through watching, listening and doing.
Knowledge and information was also shared between groups so that
information about the Dreaming and other important matters could be
passed from group to group.
Without this culture of sharing and conserving information and history,
Indigenous culture and society would not have developed.
A culture of sharing
Before British colonisation, there were up to 600 different Indigenous language groups in
Australia.
Each language group had its own laws, customs and sacred sites that were part of its
Dreaming. Sometimes there was contact and sharing between different groups. Groups
may have traded or shared different materials including species of plants or shells, or
may have come together to share in a bountiful food supply such as Bogong moths.
When groups came together, they participated in ceremonies and rituals that allowed
them to pass on stories and information. This sharing of knowledge explains why there
are many similar elements of Indigenous culture between groups.
Indigenous families survived by sharing knowledge, information, and food. An Indigenous
child was brought up not just by the mother and father, but by aunts and uncles. A child
also had very strong bonds with its cousins as well as with brothers and sisters.
The family worked together to gather food and this food was shared according to
customary law. Knowledge and information about important hunting grounds and bush
foods was passed down to the children so they learnt how to survive. Children were
shown how to do things but they also listened to stories and attended ceremonies and
corroborees that taught them necessary spiritual knowledge. Some information,
however, was so important that it could not be passed on until the children became
adults. This information was then passed on through initiation ceremonies.
Initiation
In traditional Indigenous society an initiation ceremony
generally took place when boys and girls reached
puberty. Initiation was when girls and boys learnt about
secret rituals, sacred objects and spiritual knowledge.
Both girls and boys went through an initiation process, but
for the boys initiation was a landmark event in their lives.
Boys were separated from normal camp life and most of
their relatives. They would undergo ordeals and tests, and
participate in secret ceremonies. They would learn about
being a man in Indigenous society and would gain
important knowledge about the Dreaming. After months,
or even years, the boy would return to normal camp life as
a man.
He would often have some physical scars, but would be
ready to share in the sacred life of his people. Initiation for
girls was less intense but may have included some physical
markings such as body scars or a missing tooth. At the end
of her initiation, a girl left her parents' camp and was
usually married to a man that had already been chosen for
her.
Oral history
There were many spoken Indigenous languages in Australia, but
no written language. Information was passed down to the next
generation through words, storytelling, art and dance. This is
known as oral history and the stories are known as the oral
tradition of the Indigenous peoples.
Since there were so many spoken languages, it was often
difficult for different language groups to communicate. When
groups were travelling, message sticks were carried to help
identify the group. Sign language using hands, the body, or
facial movements could also be used to communicate with
other groups; and dance and other ceremonies were conducted
to share information and knowledge.
It is not known how much Indigenous knowledge, information
and history has been lost since the arrival of the British settlers.
It is important that the knowledge and information that we do
have is passed on to the generations that follow.
Indigenous art
Indigenous art, like many other aspects of Indigenous culture, was not understood by the British
settlers. Art was an account of Indigenous everyday experiences but more importantly it was a
visual expression of their beliefs. The inspiration for much of Indigenous art was from the Dreaming
and the spirit world.
By painting, carving, drawing and decorating, Indigenous people were renewing contact with the
Dreaming and expressing their beliefs visually. Art was also used to communicate, to record history,
to tell stories, to teach and to mark territory.
Indigenous art does not just refer to paintings. Artists drew pictures in the sand and carved pictures
and designs into timber and rock. They made sculptures, painted their bodies, made baskets,
jewellery and ceremonial clothing. Indigenous art also includes the decorations found on tools and
weapons. It is generally symbolic in form and does not attempt to show an exact likeness of things.
Indigenous peoples have been painting the stories of the Dreaming on the walls of caves and rock
shelters for at least 20 000 years. Most Indigenous painting has a symbolic significance. Artists
painted what was spiritually relevant to them in a particular area of land. The paintings helped the
Indigenous people to continue their relationship with the spirit-beings of that area.
Painting
Traditional artists used brushes made from sticks that
had been chewed or hammered until the ends were
frayed. Sometimes hair or feathers that had been tied
to a stick were used as a brush and other times fingers
were used to paint a surface.
Charcoal or clay was also used as a pencil and
sometimes paint was blown out of the mouth to
produce a spray paint or stencilling effect.
A limited number of colours were used in traditional paintings. The basic
colours were red, yellow, brown, white, black and grey. The colours came from
different sources, depending on the area.
Ochre, which is a mixture of iron, lime and clay, was used to supply red, yellow
and brown. White came from lime, clay or gypsum rock. Black came from
charcoal and grey was a mixture of ash and liquids. Beeswax, honey, egg yolk,
emu fat, orchid juice and tree sap were also used as fixatives to help the paint
stay on the object or surface. Sometimes different Indigenous groups used paint
materials such as ochre to trade for other materials.
Painting styles
There were different styles of painting in
traditional Indigenous society. There was cave art,
rock shelter
paintings, ground or sand paintings, bark
paintings, body
painting and the patterns and
designs painted on objects such as shields and
boomerangs.
There were also the decorated grave poles of the
Tiwi people of Melville and Bathurst Islands, off
northern Australia. Indigenous painting styles and
designs varied widely throughout Australia
depending on the environment and the different
cultural practices of each Indigenous group.
In eastern and southern Australia there is extensive art painted and carved on
rock surfaces. Tree carvings and patterns on 'bora' grounds (ceremonial sites)
can be found in eastern Australia. In north and central Australia there are many
examples of Indigenous art, including rock paintings, ancient figure paintings of
the Mimis, x-ray art, decorative bark paintings and decorated ceremonial
objects.
Art Styles
Mimi art
The Mimi form of Indigenous art can be found
particularly in Arnhem Land in northern Australia.
Cave walls have been painted with scenes of Mimis.
Mimis are small, thin, spirit people who lived in the
rock face.
Each Mimi is engaged in an activity such as running,
jumping, fighting and dancing. Indigenous artists
have the responsibility for repainting the sacred
paintings from time to time, to retain their spiritual
power.
X-ray art
X-ray painting was another form of rock painting
common in north-west Arnhem Land, and is now
one of the most readily recognised of traditional
Indigenous art. X-ray art shows the outline and
inner parts of an animal or fish. Features such as
bones and internal organs are drawn and even small
fish are shown inside the stomach of larger fish.
Art Styles (2)
Symbolic art
Symbolic art is not easily interpreted by non-Indigenous
people. Symbolic patterns using lines, circles, spirals and
zigzags tell stories of everyday events and of the Dreaming.
Ceremonial art
Art was created for certain ceremonies and sacred rituals.
This art was usually created and then wiped out when no
longer needed. Ground or sand paintings and body painting
are examples of ceremonial art. Paint and other materials,
such as feathers, were used to decorate people's bodies and
the ground; these were then wiped away when the
ceremony was over. Indigenous painting has changed in
modern times, but it still reflects the Indigenous people's
strong religious beliefs and their continuing relationship with
the land. Traditional methods have been combined with
European elements to create a modern style of art that is
very popular. Papunya paintings with symbols, waving lines,
circles, patterns, and dots (used to camouflage secret
objects) are one of the most recognised styles today.
Early Visitors
Australia was not an empty land when the British arrived. Indigenous
people were living all over Australia and its islands, and using its land
and seas. Nor were the British the first people to visit Australia.
Australia had been visited for centuries by Dutch, French, Macassan,
Arab, and Portuguese explorers and traders. Sometimes the visitors
were unwanted and there were violent clashes between the two groups;
at other times there was curiosity and relatively peaceful contact. Food
and other goods were traded or exchanged.
Australia and the Indigenous people had been visited for hundreds of
years prior to the arrival of Captain Cook in 1770. Chinese traders and
explorers may well have made the journey to Australia centuries before
European explorers.
There is also evidence that Portuguese sailors knew of the Australian
continent. Portuguese maps from the 16th century show a country
called 'Java la Grande', which indicates a landmass similar to Australia.
The most regular visits, however, were from the Indonesian and Papuan
people.
Early Visitors
Macassan traders
Indonesian people have been visiting the Australian continent for
centuries. They came to fish mainly for trepang (sea-cucumbers or seaslugs) which were considered a delicacy in Indonesia and China.
The people who visited the northern shores of Australia came from the
Indonesian trading centre of Macassar. Remains of Macassan camp sites
have been found on Australia's northern coast, and date back at least
800 years.
The Macassans sailed to Australia in boats called praus and fished for
trepang in dugout canoes. Some of these canoes were traded with the
Indigenous people, who learned from the design and started making
their own canoes.
Macassan people traded other objects with the Indigenous people. Knives, axes,
smoking pipes and fish-hooks were traded in exchange for tortoiseshell and pearl
shells. The Macassans also influenced the art, stories, dance, language, and rituals
of the Indigenous people in the region.
Not all contact between the Macassan and Indigenous people was peaceful.
Sometimes there was violent conflict. The Macassans, however, were never seen as
a threat to the land. They always returned to their own land after gathering the
trepang.
Early Visitors
Papuans
The Papuan people regularly travelled to the Cape York Peninsula and Arnhem Land
across the Torres Strait. Papuan culture and language had a strong influence on
Indigenous culture on the Cape York Peninsula. Dugout canoes, ornamental masks
and grave posts were introduced to the Indigenous peoples. In return, the Papuans
acquired spears and other ornaments and weapons.
Dutch sailors
Dutch sailors were the first Europeans to land in several parts of
Australia, and named the land 'New Holland'. In 1606, the Dutch
captain Willem Jansz sailed in the Duyfken from the Dutch East
Indies in search of new trading areas. He was the first European to
record the sighting of the Australian mainland at the Gulf of
Carpentaria. The Dutch were looking to establish new trading ports
and find precious metals, spices and exotic fruit trees. They did not
establish a colony on Australia, as they found nothing of particular
value to them to conquer or trade with.
In 1623, the Dutch captain Jan Carstensz was sent to sail around the Gulf of Carpentaria. Captain
Carstensz and his crew encountered many Indigenous people and there were violent clashes
between the two groups. Several Indigenous people were captured and taken back to the boats.
Carstensz wrote that the Indigenous people were 'more miserable and insignificant that I have ever
seen in my life'.
The Dutch sailor Captain Abel Tasman was the first European to land on Tasmanian soil in 1642. He
did not meet any Indigenous people but did see evidence of their inhabitancy. In 1696, the Dutch
Captain William de Vlamingh made the first European landing along the Swan River in Western
Australia. He recorded that he saw smoke, huts and footprints of the Indigenous people but did not
meet any. It was not until the British started to explore that Australia was seen as a potential colony.
Early Visitors
British
William Dampier was the first Englishman to visit Australian shores in 1688. He
landed on the west coast of Australia and was looking for a safe place to clean
and repair his boat. In his account of his journey, published in 1697, Dampier
suggested that the coast of Australia (or New Holland as it was known then) was
worth further exploration. It was not until Captain James Cook took a more
serious look at the east coast of Australia that Europeans recognised that the
continent had potential for a European colony.
In April 1770, Captain Cook sailed the Endeavour into Botany Bay. Botany Bay
was so named because Joseph Banks found so many plants there. Cook spent a
week in there, gathering plants and noting the potential of the region for
farming and agriculture. The Indigenous people generally kept their distance
from him, but Cook wrote that their tools, houses and canoes were very
primitive.
As Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia, he did not see any
evidence of European style of farming or any fixed houses and so he determined
that the land was not occupied and did not belong to anyone. He claimed
possession of the east coast of Australia for King George III and named the land
New South Wales. In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed at Sydney Cove under
orders to establish a permanent British colony in New South Wales.
Early Visitors
The Papuans
Capt Cook
The First Fleet: the process of colonisation
Britain transported its criminals from its
overcrowded jails to the British colonies in
the Americas, until the American Revolution
(which lasted from 1775 to 1783).
After the Revolution, the United States
refused to accept prisoners, so Britain had to
find another place to send them.
Joseph Banks suggested Botany Bay, and this was accepted. Settlement of Australia
would not only be a place to send prisoners but would keep rival powers, such
as
France, away from Australia.
Captain Arthur Phillip was chosen to command the convict fleet, as he had
experience transporting African slaves. The fleet, known as the First Fleet, set
sail for Botany Bay on 13 May 1787.
Colonisation
The First Fleet
The First Fleet consisted of 11 ships and about 1500 people in all. There
were over 700 convicts, 290 marines, 400 sailors and some women and
children. On the way, the fleet stopped at Tenerife (Canary Islands), Rio
de Janeiro, and the Cape of Good Hope to pick up food, animals, plants
and other supplies before heading to Botany Bay. The fleet landed at
Botany Bay between 18 and 20 January 1788.
Botany Bay
It was the middle of summer, so there was little fresh water or fertile soil
at Botany Bay. Captain Phillip decided to take some crew and sail north
to find a better location. They found the clear waters of a protected
harbour that Phillip named Sydney after the British Home Secretary, Lord
Sydney. On 26 January 1788 (Australia Day), Captain Arthur Phillip and a
group of officers and marines landed in Sydney Cove and raised the
Union Jack (the British flag) to proclaim New South Wales as a British
colony.
Establishing a colony
On 27 January 1788, the male convicts began to arrive and started to clear the
trees, put up tents, unload stores and animals, and sow vegetable seeds and
corn. On 6 February 1788, the female convicts arrived from Botany Bay and the
colony was established.
Captain Phillip became the governor of the colony and began to establish
permanent structures and farms. Huts, storehouses, a hospital and a church
were built and a brick residence was constructed for the governor, called
Government House. In November of 1788 a new settlement was founded at
Parramatta, where the soil was more fertile. Another settlement was soon
established at Toongabbie. Norfolk Island was also settled so that timber and
flax (to make sails) from the island could be used in the new colony.
The first years were very hard and the colony almost failed. The first harvest
came to nothing and food had to be strictly rationed. Governor Phillip sent HMS
Sirius to the Cape of Good Hope for more supplies. In June 1790, the Second
Fleet arrived with more convicts and food supplies, and in 1791 the Third Fleet
arrived. Food was still in short supply, but by 1792 the colony was wellestablished. Trading ships were starting to visit Sydney and the whaling industry
had begun. Sheep were being imported to grow wool, and released convicts
were taking up farming. The colony of New South Wales was starting to grow.
Governor Phillip
August 1814 at Bath, England. He was a British naval officer who was
appointed the first governor of the first European colony on the
Australian continent - New South Wales. Phillip commanded the First
Fleet to Australia and was the founder of the city of Sydney. He
remained in Australia from 1788 to 1792.
Phillip's life before Australia
Admiral Arthur Phillip was originally a farmer who then became a sailor
in the British Navy. In 1786 he was chosen by Lord Sydney as the Captain
General of the proposed settlement at Botany Bay. Phillip had a very
difficult time arranging a fleet to make the voyage to Australia. People
were unsure of what they might find when they reached Australia.
Phillip suggested that people with experience in farming and building be
included, but most of the convicts on the fleet were thieves from the
slums of London.
Phillip arrived at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788, with instructions to
establish a permanent British colony. He was also instructed to establish
good relations with the Indigenous people in order to gain useful
knowledge of the area. The land rights of the Indigenous peoples,
however, were completely ignored.
The first settlers and the Indigenous peoples
The region around Sydney Cove was not uninhabited or unoccupied, as the British had
declared.
Its land belonged to the Eora and Dharug peoples. When the Union Jack was raised on 26
January 1788, all Indigenous land had been declared British territory.
In addition, all Indigenous people had been made British subjects and would be expected to
obey the laws of Great Britain. This was despite the fact that Indigenous people had their own
laws, considered the land an essential part of their lives; and had their own families, clans and
language groups.
The arrival of the British was the start of a process which resulted in Indigenous groups losing
their land, their hunting grounds and their way of life.
Contact with the British brought diseases such as smallpox that Indigenous peoples had never
known before. These diseases killed thousands and thousands of Indigenous people.
There was also competition between the British and Indigenous peoples for clean water and
food. The British settlers cut down trees, destroyed sacred sites, stole weapons and rapidly
extended their control of the land.
The British settlement of Australia has become known as the European invasion of Australia.
In the following chapters the effects of the British colonisation on the Indigenous peoples will
be explored.
First contact with the Aboriginal peoples
Governor Arthur Phillip was aware that the Aboriginal peoples might be
hostile to the British, but he wanted to establish friendly relations so
that both the British and the Indigenous peoples could live peacefully.
At Botany Bay, Phillip was confronted by the Aboriginal people of that
area. Unlike Captain Cook who had shot at the Aboriginal peoples,
Phillip put down his weapons and they did the same. Contact with the
Indigenous people at Botany Bay from that time was tense but friendly.
At Sydney Cove, the Eora people were more unwelcoming and generally
avoided Phillip and the rest of the First Fleet. The Aboriginal peoples
may have thought that the white people were the returning spirits of the
dead. As time went on, and the British stayed, there was more contact.
Some Aboriginal people stole food and tools, and threw stones at the
British boats. The British soldiers and convicts also stole spears, fishing
implements and canoes from the Aboriginal peoples.
Attempts to understand
There were immense differences between the customs and beliefs
of the Indigenous people and those of the British colonisers. The
British had little understanding of the social structure and spiritual
beliefs of Indigenous society and thought them to be primitive and
uncivilised; and the Indigenous peoples could not understand the
European practices regarding farming and land ownership.
Phillip had ordered that the Aboriginal peoples must be welltreated, and that anyone killing Aboriginal people would be
hanged. Even after Phillip was wounded by a spear, he was still
keen to befriend the Aboriginal peoples and to learn about their
language, culture, and the land. He captured some Aboriginal
people so that they could be taught English and be trained as
interpreters.
Bennelong
The first Indigenous person captured was Arabanoo from the Eora
people. He was captured at Manly and quickly learnt to speak English.
He, however, died within a year from the smallpox epidemic.
Bennelong and Colbee were the next Aboriginal people to be captured. They quickly escaped but
Bennelong eventually returned and built a strong relationship with Governor Phillip. When Phillip
returned to England in 1792, Bennelong and another Aboriginal man named Yemmerrawanie, sailed with
him. Yemmerrawanie died of pneumonia. Bennelong stayed in England for almost three years and at one
point met with King George III.
Bennelong was never accepted as an equal in England, and when he returned to Australia with the new
governor he was unable to fit in with the Aboriginal communities. He died at Kissing Point (Ryde) in 1813.
Bennelong Point, the land on which the Opera House sits, is named after him.
Phillip had wanted to live peacefully with the Aboriginal peoples and
'civilise' them, but he also took their land away from them. Towards the
end of his term as governor, he formed the view that contact with the
Aboriginal peoples was not always going to be peaceful. He began to
order his soldiers to shoot at Aboriginal people to keep them away from
the British settlements. The general conflict and claiming of land caused
a battle for survival that, in some respects, still continues today.
Owning the land - the Indigenous perspective
Indigenous peoples did not own the land like Europeans did; the land
owned them. The British became familiar with an Aboriginal man, called
Bennelong, in the early years of the colony. Bennelong declared that
Goat Island was his family's home. This surprised the British settlers;
they thought that the Indigenous peoples were nomadic and had no
fixed home.
Indigenous peoples have a very close relationship with the land; it is
their spiritual home. Indigenous culture and spirituality was inseparable
from the land; every part of their lives had a connection to it.
Land to Indigenous groups is not private land; it cannot be bought or
sold. It is not owned by any one person but rather the land, and all the
things living on it, needs to be looked after and cared for by the clan.
The survival of the Indigenous people depended on knowing the land,
and knowing which resources were available at certain times and in
certain locations. If necessary, the Indigenous peoples moved between
camps to gather and collect food.
Owning the land - the European perspective
The European perspective of land owning was entirely different to the Aboriginal
perspective. European culture was competitive and individualistic. Part of the
reason why Australia was colonised was because Britain wanted to prevent
France, or any other European country, from colonising it first.
Owning land meant power and more resources. The land could be bought or
taken by force, and then farmed or mined and sold. Europeans simply saw the
land as something that could be exploited and used.
Like the Indigenous peoples, the Europeans needed land to survive. The
Europeans, however, wanted to claim as much land as possible, without sharing it
with the Indigenous peoples.
The colonists cleared and then fenced the land so that it could be used to grow
crops or farm cattle or sheep. The rivers and creeks were fenced off and the
Aboriginal peoples were not permitted to enter the land or to visit their sacred
sites. Very quickly, the Aboriginal peoples were not allowed to access the land
that provided their food and water.
The British saw the Australian continent as a series of frontiers that were there to
be conquered. The land needed to be 'discovered' and 'civilised'. Many lives were
lost as the British settled the land across Australia.
Boundaries
Indigenous groups lived in territories and there were boundaries
between the lands of different groups. These boundaries were not
recorded on paper but were clearly understood by all groups, and
were held in the memories of the elders. Rivers, mountain ranges
and other landforms provided borders that were understood by
everyone in the clan.
Some territories could be shared between different clans, but to
enter the homeland of another group required negotiation and
ceremony. It also meant that the visiting group had to return the
deed and allow access to their land. Indigenous peoples also knew
what was happening in distant lands through trade relations, and
through Dreaming stories and songs that were learnt from other
groups.
Experiences: disease
The arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 changed the lifestyle of the
Indigenous peoples forever.
The first Indigenous people to be affected by the arrival of the
British were the Eora, the Dharug and other coastal peoples to the
north and south of Sydney.
They had their lands taken from them, their men hunted and
killed, and their families and clans destroyed by murder and
disease.
The biggest killer of Aboriginal people; the introduction of
European diseases, including smallpox, cholera, influenza,
measles, tuberculosis, syphilis and the common cold.
Traditional Aboriginal medicine
Before the arrival of the Macassan traders and the Europeans, the
Indigenous peoples had been relatively free from diseases, except
for eye and skin complaints.
Indigenous spiritual doctors were called on to cure sicknesses and
injuries. Plants were crushed and soaked in water to cure stomach
troubles or snakebites, and heat was applied to treat aches and
pains. Broken limbs and eye troubles were more difficult to cure
and rarely healed well.
The death of a person who was not killed by fighting or old age
was believed to have been caused by 'magic' from an enemy. The
spiritual doctors were responsible for finding the enemy and cause
of death, but they could do nothing to prevent deaths from the
new European diseases.
European diseases
Disease played a vital role in the breakdown of traditional Indigenous
societies. The Indigenous peoples had no natural resistance or immunity
to European diseases, so when they were exposed to these diseases,
many groups were wiped out. In some areas, most, sometimes all,
Indigenous children died from a disease.
These new European diseases included tuberculosis, cholera, venereal
disease, measles, whooping-cough, influenza and even the common
cold. The biggest killer, though, was smallpox.
Smallpox
Smallpox was a highly contagious viral disease unique to humans. About 30 percent of all
smallpox cases resulted in death.
It is difficult to know for sure but it is estimated that within the first two years of British
settlement, almost half of the Aboriginal peoples living in the Port Jackson area had died of
smallpox. Within three years, the majority of Indigenous people living close to Sydney were
killed by smallpox. Only small pockets of Indigenous peoples were left to survive in their own
country.
As the Europeans and infected Indigenous peoples moved inland, the diseases moved with
them. Smallpox was spread down the Murray River to South Australia and up and down the
coast from Sydney. In Tasmania, according to British estimates, smallpox destroyed half of the
Indigenous peoples that came into contact with Port Arthur.
Impact of European disease
The impact of smallpox and other diseases on Indigenous
populations was overwhelming.
Many of the Aboriginal spiritual doctors and elders died, and many
of the plants used for medicine were eaten by horses, sheep or
cattle.
Indigenous populations were so severely reduced that the social
systems and the links between generations were destroyed. Any
surviving Indigenous groups could not live as they had before, as
many of the family and clan members had died.
Disease was the major factor in reducing the Aboriginal population
but frontier wars and massacres were also responsible for many
deaths.
Experiences: massacres and frontier wars
The European settlement of Australia was not a peaceful process.
In fact, it is now often described as an invasion of Indigenous land.
As the Europeans spread out from Sydney and into the frontier,
many battles were fought with Aboriginal groups who were
defending their territory.
There were massacres that resulted in the deaths of thousands of
Indigenous and European men, women and children.
The exact death toll of Indigenous peoples in the frontier wars will
never be known, but an estimate has been put at over 20,000
people.
Expanding European settlement in Australia
The crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813 pushed the frontier of British
colonisation into the lands of many more Aboriginal groups, including the
Wiradjuri, and Kamilaroi, or, Gamilaraay groups.
The British government was granting Indigenous land to pastoral companies and
British settlers.
It soon became clear to the Indigenous peoples that the European intruders
were going to take their land, put up fences, destroy hunting and ceremonial
grounds, stop access to waterholes and destroy sacred sites.
The Europeans gradually settled the whole of Australia, from Tasmania to
Western Australia. This created frontier conflict in almost all areas of Australia,
but the length and force of the conflict varied between areas.
The intensity and duration of the conflict depended on the landscape
(mountainous or flat), the speed of settlement, the number of Indigenous
peoples already there, the number of settlers, the type of settlement and when
the first contact occurred. The period of conflict was shorter when there were
several settlers, when access to the country was easy, and when the Indigenous
peoples had no mountains to retreat to.
Frontier wars - resistance and revenge
The Indigenous peoples did not sit back and watch the British settlers
take their land and destroy their way of life. They resisted, and engaged
in long and bitter wars, often called the frontier wars, with the
Europeans.
The 'frontier' is a term that applies to the land that was gradually being
taken over.
Indigenous warriors used 'guerrilla warfare' against the British settlers.
This meant that small groups of warriors assaulted the settlers with
surprise raids and killed stock, attacked camps and murdered people.
Although the number of Indigenous people killed was far greater than
the death toll of the Europeans, Indigenous clans still injured many
people, destroyed a lot of property and produced much anxiety among
the settlers. The cost of colonisation was much higher than many people
thought.
Revenge
Revenge also was a major factor in prompting attacks. An example
of a series of revenge attacks was in the Bathurst region of New
South Wales in 1824.
After years of guerrilla warfare, Governor Brisbane declared
martial law on the Bathurst Plains. Soldiers travelled through the
land and killed all the Wiradjuri people they saw. 30 Aboriginal
men, women and children were killed at one camp and another 20
or 30 were made to jump over the cliff at Bell's Falls.
A Wiradjuri raiding party then attacked several European
properties. Military patrols responded by hunting down the
raiding party and killing more Aboriginal people. The intense
violence ended when the main leader of the Wiradjuri
surrendered to the Governor.
There are many examples of resistance and revenge in all States of
Australia, but eventually the Aboriginal people lost most of their
land to the settlers.
Massacres
The frontier wars produced massacres on both sides. Three recorded
Aboriginal attacks on Europeans were: the Maria massacre where a
number of European survivors from a shipwreck were killed by
Aboriginal peoples; Cullin La Ringoe Station in Queensland where 19
Europeans were killed; and Hornet Bank Station in Queensland where 11
settlers were killed.
The reasons for the massacres are different in each case, but they either
resulted from a misunderstanding or were revenge attacks.
There are records of numerous Indigenous massacres throughout
Australia, but undoubtedly there were countless more massacres that
occurred and were not recorded. In Van Diemen's Land (renamed
Tasmania in 1856) there were scores of massacres during what was
known as the 'Black War'.
At Risdon Cove in 1804 a great many Indigenous peoples were killed as
they hunted kangaroos, while at Cape Grim in1828 over 60 Peerapper
people were killed as they gathered around the campfire in the evening.
Of all the massacres, the Myall Creek Massacre is probably the most
well-known.
Experiences: dispossession
The British colonisation of Australia was a long and violent process
whereby the Indigenous peoples were forcibly dispossessed of their land
and territory by the European soldiers, settlers, pastoralists, police,
miners and seafarers.
Many battles and disputes between the Indigenous peoples and the
British invaders occurred between 1788 and the 1920s, as the British
moved to settle the land across Australia. This chapter will take a closer
look at the effects of dispossession on the Aboriginal people.
Dispossession deprived people of the possession or occupancy of land
and property. As the British settled the land across Australia, they
deprived the Indigenous peoples of their land, their hunting grounds and
water resources, and they destroyed sacred sites and other spiritually
significant places.
The British felt they had the right to do this as they had claimed
ownership of the land under 'terra nullius'. They felt it was necessary for
them to forcibly remove the Indigenous peoples from the land and
prevent them from returning.
Initial Indigenous reaction to the British invasion
While there was conflict within traditional Indigenous society, it was
virtually unknown for there to be a dispute over territorial lands.
Indigenous groups were spiritually linked to the land and there was
never any possibility of invading another group's territory. When the
British settled on the land, many Indigenous groups were not aware that
the land was no longer theirs.
Indigenous peoples may have been pushed out of their territory, but
they still believed that it was their land and that they could live on it and
use it as they had always done.
During the early days of the colonisation, many Aboriginal people and
settlers often lived quite closely together without too much conflict. The
conflicts began when it became clear that the British were staying and
would prevent the Indigenous peoples from using their land as they had
always done. The tension built up gradually, as neither the Indigenous
peoples nor the British properly understood the ways of life, the law and
traditions of the other.
Reasons for conflict
The source of much of the conflict and confrontation between the Europeans and the
Indigenous groups was that the Europeans did not share the land and its resources. Sharing
was of high importance in traditional Indigenous society, and each individual was expected to
share food and other resources with others. Conflict arose when the British arrived and
prohibited the Aboriginal peoples from using the land.
The British settlers prevented the Indigenous peoples from living the way they were
accustomed to. The British occupied the fertile, flat, open land and pushed the Indigenous
peoples into the mountains, swamps or deserts. Some groups of Indigenous peoples that had
been dispossessed of their land were pushed onto land that was not their territory. This
created much tension between different Indigenous groups.
The cattle and sheep that had been introduced by the British ate many of the native plants,
drank a lot of the water and chased away the native animals. Food became scarce for
Indigenous peoples and access to water was difficult. In such cases, the Indigenous peoples
resorted to killing sheep and cattle. The British retaliated by shooting at them, and so the cycle
of revenge attacks started.
Ceremonial and spiritual life was also disrupted by the settlers. The British
settlers either prevented access to sacred sites or destroyed them, sometimes
on purpose, sometimes accidentally. Cave paintings were destroyed and other
ceremonial objects were taken for scientific purposes, or just out of curiosity.
Large ceremonial gatherings appeared too dangerous so they were often
dispersed by soldiers, settlers or police.
First contact
The British had hoped to absorb the Aboriginal peoples into the
British culture and make them work in the new colony. At first, the
Aboriginal peoples avoided the British settlers; but as the number
of settlers increased and more land was being taken, contact
became unavoidable.
There were clashes over land and culture. Phillip started ordering
his soldiers to fire at the Aboriginal people, as his efforts to
'civilise' them and assimilate them into the British culture and
society was not working as he had hoped.
The Aboriginal peoples saw that the British settlers were clearing
the land, putting up fences, restricting access and introducing
different animals; so they started to retaliate against the invasion.
'Line of blood'
The conflict around Sydney Harbour and Parramatta foreshadowed
the conflict that broke out as the settlers moved into the
Hawkesbury Valley, and eventually across all areas of Australia.
By 1797, attitudes and policy toward the Indigenous peoples had
changed. No longer did the government hope to assimilate the
Indigenous peoples, but rather the policy was to 'keep them out'.
In 1800 Governor King (the third governor of New South Wales)
had reported to the British government that the advance of the
British settlement was marked by a 'line of blood', and that the
number of Aboriginal peoples killed in fighting was far greater
than the number of British people killed.
Punitive expeditions
In the 1790s and the 1800s the common response of the
government to Aboriginal resistance was to send out expeditions
of soldiers to punish any groups that threatened farms and
settlers.
These soldiers hunted down and killed groups of Indigenous
people that were thought responsible for stealing stock or food or
generally harassing the settlers. Government instructions after
1800 were to fire at Indigenous peoples until they were far away
from British settlements.
In 1816, Governor Macquarie announced that if any Indigenous
peoples approached British settlements or were unwilling to leave
British properties, then the settlers could drive them away with
the use of firearms. Similar encouragement by the government
was given in Tasmania and Western Australia, and in most other
areas of Australia.
Aboriginal resistance
The Indigenous peoples generally resisted the settlement of their land, but they
had little resistance against the guns of the British settlers. One Aboriginal
warrior, named Pemulwuy, led the Aboriginal resistance around Sydney Harbour
from 1790 to 1802 and was feared by many British settlers.
As the British settlement grew, the Indigenous peoples lost more of their land
and many of their family members. They became more reliant on the British
settlers to provide them with food, water and shelter.
As their traditional way of life was slowly eroded, many Aboriginal people
started living on the outskirts of towns or started working as servants in the
British settlements. This further consolidated the European view of the time
that Indigenous peoples were inferior, and were unable look after themselves
or the land.
Not all contact with the British settlers was violent. At times there was peaceful
and friendly contact. Some Indigenous peoples voluntarily became part of the
British society. There is also evidence that groups of Indigenous peoples helped
Europeans when they were in trouble; which was quite often, as life for British
settlers was very hard in the early years of the colony.
Surviving: way of life for British settlers
Introduction
It was a struggle for the settlers to survive in the first years of the British
colony in Australia. They had come from a developed country with
buildings, roads, shops and hospitals and arrived in a country that was
entirely unfamiliar to them. Not only did they have to contend with
strange plants and animals but the soil was also very poor and the
climate much warmer and drier. The early settlers were also wary of the
Indigenous peoples. The colony almost failed in the early years, as the
harvests failed, but gradually the colony began to expand.
Convicts
The life of a convict was very harsh. Many of the convicts sent to New
South Wales were serving a 7 or 14 year sentence for crimes such as
robbery. They were forced to work 10 hours each day, from sunrise to
sunset. They were sometimes tied in chains and were fed meagre
rations. As punishment they were flogged, and perhaps confined to dark
cells.
Convicts
Some convicts worked for the governor, while others worked for
freed convicts and free settlers. The male convicts built roads,
bridges, buildings, and cultivated crops while the female convicts
often wove wool or washed laundry.
Convicts gained their freedom after they had completed their
sentence. Sometimes they were granted pardons if they were well
behaved. These convicts became known as emancipists.
Most ex-convicts and emancipists were allowed to go home, but
had to pay their own fare. If they stayed in Australia they were
often given grants of land in the hope that they would grow their
own food and stop relying on the government.
Many emancipists provided a valuable contribution to the growth
and expansion of the colony in New South Wales.
The New South Wales Corps
After the convicts, the military were the second largest group of British settlers
in the colony. The New South Wales Corps was a British army unit established in
1789 to serve the colony. They played a very influential role in colonial life. They
supervised convicts and patrolled the frontiers of settlements to repel attacks
from the Indigenous peoples.
After Governor Phillip left in 1792, the New South Wales Corps took over
control of the colony. The soldiers' way of life changed too, often for the better.
The commander of the Corps increased the men's rations, and gave them land;
they started trading goods, in particular rum. They were very powerful until
Governor Bligh took over in 1806, and then Governor Macquarie in 1810.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Under Governor Macquarie, the way of life in Sydney changed for all British
settlers. Macquarie, with the help of convict labour and his army regiment (73rd
Regiment), transformed Sydney into a city with many fine buildings. He
developed a programme of road construction and encouraged exploration. He
also made it compulsory for convicts to go to church and tried to turn the
Aboriginal people into settled farmers. Under Macquarie, it became much
easier for the British to survive, particularly in Sydney.
Free settlers
In the early years of the colony, very few settlers came to Australia. Free
settlers had to fund their own transport and were usually quite wealthy.
The few who made the journey to Australia did so mostly to make their
fortune. They were often given large land grants and convicts to work for
them. Some free settlers were not farmers, but doctors and military
officers looking for a better way of life in Australia.
Even with land grants and convict labour, the life of a free settler was
often very harsh. Farmers and pastoralists in particular had to endure
droughts and floods, as well as resistance from the Indigenous peoples.
Their shelters were often very basic to begin with and food was scarce
until the crops could be harvested. Few farms succeeded in the early
years of the colony.
It was not until the 1820s and 1830s, when New South Wales was settled
further inland, that farmers began to flourish. The following chapter
looks at the expansion into inland Australia.
Expanding: moving inland
By 1810, the plains of Sydney were becoming overcrowded. Parramatta,
Toongabbie, Camden, and the Hawkesbury Valley around Windsor had all been
settled by the British.
The land was being cleared so that sheep and cattle could graze and crops could
be grown. The biggest breakthrough for new land came when the Blue
Mountains were crossed by Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William
Charles Wentworth in May, 1813.
Crossing the Blue Mountains
Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth were the first three Europeans to find a way
across most of the mountains. Later that year, George Evans used the path and
explored the land and plains over the mountains. He named the Bathurst Plains
and the Fish and Macquarie Rivers.
A year later, in July 1814, Governor Macquarie authorised William Cox to use
convicts to build a road across the mountains, following the path made by
Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. The road was completed in January 1815 and
went all the way to the Macquarie River. Once the road was open, vast new
areas of good grazing land were available to settlers.
Further inland exploration
The programme of inland exploration, which had begun under Governor
Macquarie, continued in the following years, no doubt with help from
Aboriginal guides who showed them the tracks, water sources, bush food and
camping sites.
Hamilton Hume and William Hovell travelled overland from Sydney to Port
Phillip (now Victoria) in 1824; Allan Cunningham travelled up from the New
England Tableland to locate the Darling Downs (Queensland) in 1827; Charles
Sturt followed much of the Murray Darling river systems, 1828-1830; and
Thomas Mitchell explored western New South Wales and Victoria between the
years 1831-1836.
These men discovered land that had been previously unknown to the British
settlers. Settlers and squatters quickly took over large areas of this land for the
sheep and cattle farms.
Pastoral expansion
At first, the governor and authorities tried to control the expansion into the new
land by issuing land grants. As more free settlers arrived, however, and more
convicts were pardoned, people started to settle or squat on land in the Hunter
River Valley, the New England Tablelands, the Liverpool Plains, the Bathurst
Plains, the Yass Plains and in what is now central and western Victoria. Other
pastoralists brought their flocks from Tasmania across Bass Strait to Victoria.
Aboriginal reaction
The rapid inland expansion of the British colony forced many
Aboriginal peoples from their land, and into a war with the
settlers. The sheep and cattle destroyed native grasses and other
vegetation, ruined waterholes, and competed with native animals.
The depletion of resources and the competition for land brought
the Europeans and inland Aboriginals into sharp conflict.
Governor Macquarie tried to stop the Indigenous Australians from
attacking the settlers. He formed new military outposts and
created a law that Indigenous peoples were not allowed to carry a
firearm within 2 kilometres of a house or town.
The massacres continued, with revenge attacks the most common.
In the Liverpool Plains area in northern New South Wales, at least
100 Aboriginal people were killed by troopers after they had killed
several European shepherds.
Effects of expansion inland
The expansion inland provided much new land for the British colony and
provided the resources for the Australian economy to grow rapidly particularly the wool industry and later the mining industry. The
population of the colony started to increase through immigration, as
British people saw that money could be made in the new colony. Living
conditions had also improved and more land had become available.
The effects on the Indigenous population, however, were disastrous. The
Indigenous populations were reduced substantially because of
dispossession, wars and disease. In Victoria, for example, many
Aboriginal groups were reduced to perhaps a quarter of their pre-1788
population in one generation.
Some Aboriginal peoples elected to work for the settlers as it would
mean they could remain on their land. In these cases, some pastoralists
recognised that the Indigenous peoples needed to stay on the land, but
only as long as they adapted to domestic and station work. The attempt
to 'civilise' the Indigenous population is discussed in the next chapter.
Civilisation: the missionaries and Macquarie
Lieutenant Colonel Lachlan Macquarie became Governor of New South Wales in
1810 and was in power until his resignation in 1821. He was a powerful military man
and was determined to reshape the colony after the 1808 Rum Rebellion.
During the Rum Rebellion, the NSW Governor, William Bligh, was deposed (removed
from office) by John Macarthur and the New South Wales Corps for trying to control
the trade of rum and limit the power of the military. Macquarie was keen to civilise
the colony.
His belief was that New South Wales should be seen as part of the British Empire,
not just as a prison camp. It would become a country where free people would live
and prosper. How the Indigenous peoples fitted into Macquarie's vision for the
colony is explored in this chapter.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Macquarie became governor of a struggling and chaotic colony with a population of
about 5000 people. He began reforming the colony so that it would become a
civilised country with mainly free people. He ordered the construction of roads,
bridges, churches and many public buildings and encouraged people to live by
Christian principles. He made church attendance compulsory for convicts, and
persuaded people to marry rather than to live together.
Macquarie also wanted the colony and its economy to prosper. He encouraged exconvicts to become settlers after being given their freedom, and ordered the
exploration and mapping of inland Australia. These reforms greatly affected the
Indigenous peoples and their traditional way of life.
European view of the Indigenous peoples
Macquarie held a view of the Indigenous peoples that was common among most
Europeans at the time. The view was that the Indigenous peoples were primitive
and inferior to the Europeans and needed to be 'civilised' so that they could become
a useful part of the colonial society.
After Macquarie, particularly in the 1830s and 1840s, the general view of the
Indigenous peoples changed to one of contempt, as the conflicts and frontier wars
increased. Many Europeans felt that the Indigenous peoples deserved to be treated
severely. Opposing that view were some individuals such as missionaries who were
horrified by the treatment of the Indigenous peoples and were determined to either
'civilise' them or convert them to Christianity.
Macquarie and the Indigenous peoples
Macquarie was ambivalent (in two minds) about how to treat the Indigenous
peoples. He wanted to treat them with respect, but he also was keen to punish any
Aboriginal people that intended to harm the settlers.
Macquarie introduced many harsh regulations in an attempt stop the frontier wars.
In 1816 he announced that he intended to drive the Aboriginal peoples away from
British settlements and strike them with terror so that they would stop committing
acts of violence and theft. Even if innocent Aboriginal peoples were killed,
Macquarie wanted the punishments to be so severe that other groups would see
what would happen if they raided farms and killed British settlers.
Macquarie
Macquarie was also keen to 'civilise' the 'unenlightened'
Aboriginal peoples. When dealing with friendly clans, Macquarie
developed a strategy of nominating a 'chief' to be responsible for
each clan.
The chiefs were identified by a brass breast-plate that was worn
around the neck and engraved with their name and title. This
imposed European culture, as traditional Indigenous society did
not have a chief, but rather a group of elders.
Macquarie also tried to encourage the Aboriginal peoples to
become settled farmers and to educate their children. To do this
he set up a school for the education of Aboriginal children.
The Native Institution
In 1814, on the advice of the missionary William Shelley, Macquarie established a 'Native
Institution' at Parramatta. It was a school for the education of Aboriginal children and
Macquarie actively encouraged Aboriginal parents to hand over their children for education
there. It opened in 1814 with six boys and six girls, and was aimed at civilising, Christianising
and educating Aboriginal children.
Sometimes children were not placed in the Native Institution voluntarily. When Aboriginal
people raided farms from Lane Cove to the Nepean River in 1816, Macquarie sent out soldiers
to kill as many Aboriginal peoples as they could. He also gave orders to bring back children to
be placed in the Native Institution. Macquarie also asked each one of the chiefs to give up one
of their children to be placed in the Native Institution. The Native Institution, however, only
lasted a few years and it was closed in 1820.
Missionaries
From the time Governor Macquarie set up the Native Institution, Australian governments have
had policies that forced the Indigenous peoples to abandon their traditional customs,
languages and social systems. Even missionaries that were intent on helping the Aboriginal
peoples wanted to put an end to their 'primitive practices' and beliefs.
The missionaries started to arrive in Australia during Macquarie's time, and were a big part of
Indigenous life throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The missionaries usually wanted to
'civilise' the Indigenous peoples and were keen for them to study the Bible and to stop their
traditional ceremonies and traditional way of life.
Missionaries ignored the fact that the Indigenous peoples already had their own spiritual life
and strong beliefs.
Managing the missions and segregation
A missionary is a person who works to spread their religious beliefs. In Australia, the missionaries were
looking to convert the Indigenous peoples to Christianity. There were Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran
missionaries, but all worked to convince the Indigenous peoples to give up their traditional beliefs and
start to believe in Jesus and the traditional Christian view of creation.
The first missionaries arrived in the British colony of New South Wales in 1789, but it was not until about
1820 that they started arriving in numbers to protect the Indigenous peoples and convert them to
Christianity.
Many missionaries were shocked by the bloodshed and the racial violence that was occurring. They wrote
about the devastation, robberies, cruelties and murder that was being seen in many parts of Australia and
worked towards protecting the Aboriginal people and educating them to become Christians.
The missionaries fought for the protection of Aboriginal peoples from racial violence, particularly on the
frontier. As the 19th century advanced, the missionaries were generally unpopular and were viewed as
troublemakers by the rest of the British population. Many settlers believed that missionary activity was
useless and a waste of colonial money. Despite this view, missionaries continued to protest against the
treatment of the Indigenous peoples by the settlers, and worked to protect them by setting up missions.
Missions
A mission is a used to refer to the reserves and government properties that many Aboriginal people were
relocated to. The missions were established and run by missionaries and were used to protect, feed, clothe,
educate and restrict the movements of Aboriginal peoples.
The missionaries thought the creation of reserves would be a solution to the threat to the lives of the
Aboriginal peoples and called on the government to establish them. In most States, missions were
regulated by the governments after the Aborigines Protection Boards were set up.
Mission Reserves and Segregation
Reserves
A reserve was an area of land that was set aside by the government for the Aboriginal
peoples. There were two types of reserves. There were 'managed reserves' that were also
called stations, and there were 'unmanaged reserves'. The managed reserves were usually run
by a manager and provided education, rations and housing. Unmanaged reserves were under
police control and only provided rations.
Most of the reserves were quite small, with scattered housing. As the British settlement grew,
reserves were created across New South Wales and Aboriginal people were relocated to them.
Some reserves were set up on land that the group had traditionally belonged to, but most
were put in remote areas away from European settlements.
Segregation
The policy and practice of separating the Aboriginal peoples from the European settlers was
known as segregation. Segregation started in the late 19th century and was used to separate
the Aboriginal peoples that had survived the European invasion.
There were arguments that segregation would protect the Indigenous peoples from European
influences, such as alcohol, but it was also a means of keeping the Aboriginal peoples away
from the Europeans.
Segregation laws were also used to separate Indigenous peoples with some European ancestry
from those with non-European Ancestry. The Indigenous peoples with some European
ancestry could only stay on reserves for a certain time before being integrated into the general
European population.
The policy of segregation continued until 1967 when Indigenous peoples were finally
recognised as full citizens of Australia and were ensured the right to vote.
Effects of Missions
Most Aboriginal peoples voluntarily moved to the missions and reserves,
as they had already lost their land, hunting grounds and water sources.
By moving to a mission, they were protected by the missionaries and
received food and clothing.
Some Aboriginal people left their family and clan to live on a mission,
leaving the elderly people and children to look after themselves. This
created a further breakdown of traditional Indigenous society.
Missions did save many groups of Aboriginal peoples who may
otherwise have died from racial abuse, conflict, and starvation; but there
was a price to pay. The Aboriginal peoples living on missions were
forbidden to speak traditional languages or take part in traditional
ceremonies and other cultural practices.
Men, women and children were also often segregated on the missions so
that the children could be taught the Christian way of life without the
interference of the elders and other adults. This meant that traditional
knowledge and beliefs were lost, as they were not being communicated
to the young generation.
Effects of Missions (2)
The British settlers and the missionaries had no respect for
Indigenous laws, life and spiritual beliefs.
The Aboriginal peoples that survived the impact of European
diseases, frontier wars, racial abuse and dispossession were often
put on reserves or missions where they lost the freedom to
practice their traditional way of life and culture.
The Aboriginal peoples were trapped between European society
and their traditional way of life.
They were meant to assimilate into the European Australian
culture and society, but were not given any rights or respect.
Even today, the Indigenous peoples are still fighting for rights and
respect from the government and from many Australian people.
Origins of resistance and revenge
Colonising Australia was certainly not an easy process for the British. Not
only was it unfamiliar land with strange plants and animals, but the
settlers also had to deal with a diverse, indigenous population that
defended their land and territory from the invasion of another people.
The resistance of the Indigenous peoples was a fact of life for the British
settlers on the frontier, from the early years of the colony to over 100
years later. The reasons for the Indigenous peoples resisting the
European invasion is summarised in this chapter.
Resistance to the invasion
Wherever the British settled in Australia, they were met by groups of
Indigenous peoples. Sometimes, particularly at the beginning, the
Indigenous peoples either avoided the settlers, or were curious about
their ways. In later years, the contact became increasingly violent and
hostile as Indigenous peoples were forcibly removed or prevented from
returning to their own land.
Not all contact was violent. Some Indigenous peoples readily adopted
the British ways and voluntarily became part of life on the settlements.
Overall, however, the British settlers arrived in the colony with a desire
to own the land and everything on it, and this was resisted by the
Indigenous peoples.
Land ownership, dispossession and resistance
The main reason for the Aboriginal peoples resisting the invasion was
that the British settlers started taking their land and prevented them
from using it. Indigenous peoples have strong, spiritual links to the land
and each group had territory that they used for hunting, ceremonies,
shelter and water. The concept that someone could take over the land
without sharing it was not considered by the Indigenous peoples.
The European settlers, however, believed that the Indigenous peoples
did not own the land, and that they were free to take it.
Initially, the Indigenous people believed that the settlers would
eventually go away, and may have tolerated the settlers living on their
land.
As time went on, it became clear that the settlers were staying and were
going to prevent the Indigenous peoples from using the land as they had
done for centuries. This was when many Indigenous peoples started to
fight back and resist the invasion.
Ownership and sharing
Sometimes, the Indigenous people and settlers lived in close
proximity with few problems. The trouble started when arguments
arose over the sharing of resources.
The Indigenous peoples had a culture of sharing which was central
to their social organisation. The settlers had a culture of
individualism and possessiveness. These two cultures were could
not live together without conflict.
When Indigenous people took a sheep or a cow to eat, they
believed it was their right as they were sharing the land. By taking
property of the settlers, the Indigenous groups were forcing them
to share.
Some groups also shared their women with the settlers. In return,
the Indigenous peoples expected food or clothing, but often the
settlers abused the women and gave nothing in return.
Changing beliefs and attitudes
The mood changed as the settlers and Indigenous peoples began
to hear stories of violence and racial abuse that was occurring in
other parts of the country.
During the 1820s and 1830s, most British settlers started to
believe that the Indigenous people were nothing more than
savages that needed to be kept away from their settlements.
Many settlers thought that killing Indigenous people for revenge,
or to protect their family and property, was the right thing to do.
The Indigenous peoples also started to consider the British
differently. The expansion of the British settlement into inland
Australia meant that there was more contact with the Indigenous
peoples. They were hearing horrific stories of murder, massacres
and of children and women being kidnapped and abused or kept
as servants. For many Indigenous people, the attacks on the
settlers became motivated by revenge.
Revenge and The Final Straw
Revenge attacks were common in traditional Indigenous society, so
when the British settlers started abusing, injuring and killing Aboriginal
men, women and children, the Aboriginal peoples wanted revenge.
Often the Aboriginal people only wanted to punish particular individual
settlers who had been involved in the incident or attack, and spent days
preparing for the revenge.
The settlers also wanted revenge for any killings or theft, but they often
killed whole groups of Aboriginal people, even if they were not involved
in the crimes. The settlers wanted to overcome all resistance from the
Indigenous peoples and would continue the violence until there was no
more conflict.
Final straw
Resistance and revenge continued to worsen on the frontier as
misunderstandings, fear and anxiety produced more brutal killings and
attacks. The loss of land, way of life and the destruction of their family,
band and clan led many Indigenous peoples into war with the European
invaders. In the end, however, the British invaders were too powerful for
the Indigenous peoples.
Pemulwuy of the Eora Revenge
Revenge attacks were common in traditional Indigenous society, so when the
British settlers started abusing, injuring and killing Aboriginal men, women and
children, the Aboriginal peoples wanted revenge. Often the Aboriginal people
only wanted to punish particular individual settlers who had been involved in
the incident or attack, and spent days preparing for the revenge.
The settlers also wanted revenge for any killings or theft, but they often killed
whole groups of Aboriginal people, even if they were not involved in the crimes.
The settlers wanted to overcome all resistance from the Indigenous peoples and
would continue the violence until there was no more conflict.
Final straw
Resistance and revenge continued to worsen on the frontier as
misunderstandings, fear and anxiety produced more brutal killings and attacks.
The loss of land, way of life and the destruction of their family, band and clan
led many Indigenous peoples into war with the European invaders. In the end,
however, the British invaders were too powerful for the Indigenous peoples.
The Aboriginal peoples did not have big armies to fight the British invaders.
Instead, they worked in small groups to harass the settlers and organise surprise
raids on the settlements and camps, commonly called guerrilla tactics. One of
the earliest Aboriginal men to lead a group of warriors and resist the invasion of
the British settlers around Sydney was a man named Pemulwuy.
Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy was an Aboriginal that lived in the Sydney area
between the coast and Castle Hill in the Eora language group. He
was born in about 1760, died in 1802 and saw the British as
invaders of Aboriginal land.
Pemulwuy first came to the attention of the British when he
speared and killed the governor's gamekeeper, John McIntyre, in
1790. McIntyre was believed to have killed a number of Aboriginal
people in the area. Governor Phillip ordered a punitive expedition
to revenge the death of the gamekeeper, but the troops failed to
capture Pemulwuy. He was then declared an outlaw under British
law.
Organising Raids
Pemulwuy was responsible for organising small groups of
Aboriginal warriors to attack British farms, small towns and troops
around Parramatta and Toongabbie. Many settlers abandoned
their properties as the raids continued.
Soldiers were soon ordered to patrol farming areas and protect the
settlers. Pemulwuy and his warriors then began using fire as a
weapon. They lit fires in the hope of destroying the British farms,
fences, crops, stock, houses and supplies.
The British responded by organising revenge attacks against the
Eora people. The Eora camps were attacked while the men were
away hunting. Elderly people, women and children were shot and
either wounded or killed.
Capture and death of Pemulwuy
After several years of organising resistance against the settlers,
Pemulwuy was shot and seriously wounded during an attack on
Parramatta in 1797. He was captured and imprisoned. Despite his
injuries, Pemulwuy somehow escaped. The Eora people believed he
turned into a crow and flew through the bars of his prison cell.
For 12 years, Pemulwuy and his warriors fought against the British;
although he found it increasingly difficult to find strong warriors to make
the raids. Many Aboriginal people were dying from the European
diseases and in battles with the settlers. In 1802 a patrol shot Pemulwuy
dead in an ambush. His head was cut off and it was sent to Sir Joseph
Banks in London for research and display in a British museum.
The governor at the time, Lieutenant Philip King, wrote: 'Although a
terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character.'
With the death of Pemulwuy the large scale resistance to the European
invasion around the Sydney region ended, but Aboriginal resistance
continued in most other areas as the British settlement spread.
The guerrilla tactics used by Pemulwuy were the same used by many
Aboriginal groups on the frontier. There were other warriors, including
Yagan in Perth, that have become well known; but Pemulwuy was the
first to show the British settlers that the Aboriginal peoples were going
to resist the invasion.
The Myall Creek massacre
As the British settlement spread away from Sydney and into the
inland areas, violent clashes between Aboriginal peoples and
settlers became more common. Although it was official
government policy to protect the Aboriginal peoples, most settlers
disregarded this policy.
They attacked and killed many Aboriginal people for even the
smallest crimes, or simply to keep them away from their
settlement. Settlers who randomly killed Aboriginal people were
rarely brought to justice. What was notable about the massacre of
a group of Aboriginal people at Myall Creek in 1838 was that the
British murderers were brought to trial; and seven were found
guilty and hanged.
Myall Creek massacre
On 10 June 1838, a party of 12 men, consisting of 11 convict
settlers and 1 free man, named John Fleming, arrived at a hut on
Henry Dangar's Myall Creek station, in north-west New South
Wales, near Inverell.
They were there to capture any Aboriginal people they could find,
in revenge for the theft of cattle. The men gathered 28 Aboriginal
people who were at a camp nearby and tied them up. The men
brutally beat the group to death; the group included women and
children. Later, they collected the bodies and burned them.
When the manager of the station returned several days later, he
discovered the bodies and decided to report the incident to the
authorities. A group of police investigated the incident and found
the burnt bodies. The 11 convicts were captured and charged with
murder, but John Fleming escaped. He was never captured and
may have been responsible for further massacres throughout the
Liverpool Plains and New England regions.
The Trials and Consequences
There were two trials of the convicts. At each trial, a station-hand named
George Anderson, who was living on the property, was the only British
witness to the incident. In the first trial, the men were found not guilty
of murdering two Aboriginal men, but in the second trial they were
charged with the murder of one of the Aboriginal children.
Seven of the men were found guilty and were sentenced to execution by
hanging. The men were executed on the morning of 18 December 1838.
This was the first time that the European legal system had been used to
punish British people for crimes against Aboriginal people.
Consequences
There was much anger among the British settlers that the 7 men were
hanged for killing the Aboriginal people, who many regarded as 'black
animals'.
Although the trial and hangings were intended to stop the massacres on
the frontier, it may have encouraged the settlers to further retaliate and
to cover up the evidence. Indeed, the frontier battles and massacres
continued to occur for many more years, causing countless deaths in
both the Aboriginal and European populations.
The Trials and Consequences
Consequences
There was much anger among the British settlers that the 7 men
were hanged for killing the Aboriginal people, who many regarded
as 'black animals'.
Although the trial and hangings were intended to stop the
massacres on the frontier, it may have encouraged the settlers to
further retaliate and to cover up the evidence. Indeed, the frontier
battles and massacres continued to occur for many more years,
causing countless deaths in both the Aboriginal and European
populations.