Tasmania 1803 to 1830 notes

Many thanks to Dr. Castaneda for posting the link to this video on her blog. It provided a lot of details about the affects of colonization on the Tasmanian people. It's baffling to see how little some people's lives were regarded by those in power.

8 Tasmanian Nations

- Peerapper

- Tommeginne

- Pyemmairrener

- Tyerrernotepanner

- Leirmairrener

- Paredarerme

- Toogee

- Nuenonne

 

1828 - British land grant in Australia decrees that colonial land owners have the right to shoot and kill any Tasmanians who are found trespassing on their land.

- Bounties are placed on the heads of children and adults.

- The Black War took place between European Settlers and Australian Aboriginals due to the British Land Grant of 1830. The land grant made it possible for settlers to set up farm land. Those who inhabited the land before were not seen by the British government as having true ownership were seen as trespassers. Naturally, the aboriginals were not very pleased with people coming onto their own land, and rebelled against this occupation with guerilla war tactics.

 

- Missions were established which protected the Australians.

- George Augustus Robinson is interested in "civilizing" the Aboriginal people.

- European diseases decimate the population at Robinson's mission.

- As Aboriginals were bringing the price of land down, targets were basically painted on the backs of the Aboriginals.

 

- The Tasmanian coastline was a prime area for people to hunt for seal and whale. Men from around the world came for these prized mammals, but it is revealed that the men also took Tasmanian women. The men would rape the women. Disgusting.

- In one descriptive account, the whalers took men and women out to sea in their vessel. The sailors cut the men's hands off and threw them overboard. As they had no hands, the men (must have been in absolute agony) could not swim back and save the women

- Colonial men never saw the women as a threat. Due to this, they were known to move in-between groups, the Aboriginals and settlers.

 

- I found this direct quote from the film to be very interesting: "Much of the official government history of Australia purports that Australia was settled peacefully. It purports that the Australian constitution was the only Constitution in the world developed in a time of peace. Australia had no revolutions or wars."

- George Robinson tries to teach the Aboriginals to be white. The main goal was always to create "civilized", Christian people.

- A large amount of Aboriginals are basically removed from the mainland and sent to live on Flinders Island. The settlers were free to make a profit on their land without any interference.

- "30 years is a short period in which to have banished the last Aboriginal from his native land. Some even think the race will soon become extinct". Charles Darwin.

 

Science and the Tasmanians

- "There's an enormous trade in Aboriginal human remains that go to museums literally all over Europe, North America. And to own an artifact from the most primitive people on earth becomes a trophy."

- Remains were dug up, body parts were stolen right after death, etc.