Healing the spirit : a Birrpai perspective on the Port Macquarie penal colony and its aftermath / Bob Davis and John Heath
- Bib ID:
- 8632321
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Davis, Bob, 1951-, author
- Description:
-
- Port Macquarie, NSW : Port Macquarie Historical Society, 2021
- ©2021
- xiii, 173 pages : illustrations (some colour), portraits (some colour), facsimiles (some colour), maps ; 25 cm.
- ISBN:
- 9780958039062 (paperback)
- Summary:
-
The authors, both senior Birrpai men, begin by describing the traditional culture, law and way of life of the Birrpai people whose lands stretched from the Hastings River district southwards to beyond the Manning River. The arrival of a large group of white men in the region in 1818, when John Oxley and his party trespassed into the Hastings Valley and followed the river to its mouth at the place Oxley named Port Macquarie, was the trigger for catastrophic impact on Birrpai society. In 1821 a penal colony was established at Port Macquarie, leading to years of complex interactions between the Birrpai, the militia and convicts; sometimes hostile, sometimes seeking forms of accommodation. After the colonial government provided free settlers with access to Birrpai lands in 1830, interactions became even more complex, and the Birrpai were increasingly dispossessed of their lands while still attempting to maintain their traditions and autonomy. The establishment of the Aboriginal Protection Board in 1882 heralded official policies of segregation, with many Birrpai forced onto reserves with their own black schools, whilst being denied many of the basic rights enjoyed by whites. Others amongst the Birrpai overtly fought to maintain their rights to their lore and lands. Over the following decades, State and National policies towards Indigenous people transformed from segregation to integration. The policy of assimilation was largely adopted by the Commonwealth in 1938, the year in which Indigenous leaders declared 26 January as a Day of Mourning. In the 1960s the fight for social justice stepped up and after the 1967 Referendum was overwhelmingly passed, further reforms were made, leading, after a long struggle, to the passage of Land Rights legislation and forms of self-determination. The book examines the impact of all these changes on the Birrpai people, the moves towards recognition and reconciliation, and ends by looking ahead at what still needs to be done to remedy the remaining and seemingly intractable issues of social and restorative justice, and the resultant social and cultural disadvantages suffered by First Peoples throughout Australia.
- Notes:
-
- "This project is supported by a Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Community Grant"--Page ii.
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-159) and index.
- First Nations (AIATSIS) Subject:
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Copyright Information:
- ©Bob Davis & John Heath 2021
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2021
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