HIS3AAH - Aboriginal History: Analyzing Primary Sources & Places

This essay provides an analysis of a primary source related to Aboriginal Australian history, specifically focusing on the conflict between Aboriginal people and British colonists in Tasmania. It examines the historical context of the Black War, including the social, political, and governmental interests at play. The essay explores themes of colonial oppression, racial inequality, and the impact of frontier colonization on Aboriginal communities. It references the work of various historians and researchers, including Alexander, Ryan and Sturma, to contextualize the primary source and provide a deeper understanding of the events and their implications. The analysis highlights the significance of place, mobility, and memory in shaping Aboriginal Australian history and underscores the lasting impact of colonial violence and dispossession.

Running head: ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
Aboriginal Australian History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
Primary source
Alexander, A. ed., 2005. The companion to Tasmanian history. Centre for Tasmanian
Historical Studies, University of Tasmania.
This primary source has been published in the University of Tasmania. It has been
written by Alison Alexander. This source is very much important to denote the clack war took
place between indigenous aboriginal people of Tasmania and British colonists. The in depth
analysis of that war had been discussed in this primary source much efficiently. The author has
brought out all the relevant details regarding this incident (Alexander 2005). This incident went
on from 1820 to 1832. Tasmania was a border state in the country so it was regarded as a frontier
colony. The minute details of this incident have been produced in this primary source to find out
the evil effects of colonialism (Alexander 2005). This primary source is very closely related with
the particular language group of the nation.
This source had discussed about social, political and government interests in the best
ways. The political interests that this source has served are regarding the colonial confrontation
between the indigenous native aboriginal people of Australia and the British colonial powers.
This source has evidently showcased the different issues regarding the colonial oppression and
the question race. Racial inequalities have propagated these conflicts over the ages in the frontier
provinces like Tasmania (Alexander 2005). Apart from the case of Tasmania, various other cases
of frontier colonization have been depicted in this primary source as well. In this source, author
has explored that very first official frontier colony had been set up at Risdon Cove in the month
of September of 1803 (Ryan 2008). Some violent activities had been seen related to this aspect.
One of this according to this source is that of Great Oyster Bay when aboriginal people of the
country went on to burn 2000 seal pelts of sealers. In other sources, the depiction of this war had

2ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
been given as well. Semelin used to develop a proper method or approach that would deepen the
knowledge of the situation since the massacre was indeed immense. He has made an
investigation about this massacre and found that these massacres were not all unusual and these
had been outcomes of the racial oppressions in the land (Ryan 2008).
The five point typology has been used by Semelin as discussed in other secondary
sources. The social and political implications are very deep in this scenario. He has discovered a
proximal relationship between the victims and their murderers (Ryan 2008). This information
has some connection with the primary source. Semelin has also found out some of the ways how
a massacre can be carried out. These are unilateral massacres, bilateral massacres, mass
massacres, long range massacres and local massacres. As per this knowledge, it is quite
associated with the massacre that took place between aborigines and British colonialists (Ryan
2008). The British colonists were in command of the state and aborigines of Tasmania revolted
against them to get their own rights. This kind of massacre definitely had a political and social
purpose and it can be called a unilateral massacre.
However, this primary source has always been efficient and significant enough because
nearly 200 European people and numerous aboriginal people lost their lives during the black war
of Tasmania. It has been recorded that around twelve European settlers had died due to twelve
attacks from aboriginal people (Sturma 1985). In this primary source, it can also be explored that
the evident desire of aboriginal people was to kill and destroy the white skinned Europeans. This
unilateral massacre took away lives of several people in this scenario. The attempt of restricting
the movements of aboriginal people to the unsettled districts of the country had failed. This is
how the fire of protest and revolt spread on. The Australian history of aborigines has been
discussed in this source in a very detailed manner. The attribution of the word massacre is

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somewhat inappropriate in some contexts since the term denotes a sense of mass murder in a
particular manner (Sturma 1985). Therefore, the killing of those aboriginal people and their
retributions on white skinned British colonizers should be thought upon. These events went on to
be violent and northern settlement of sealers and other Europeans was not under Hobart until
1812. This situation went from bad to worse when aborigines responded very violently to the
presence of all Europeans,
In this context, it must also be told that some glimpses of trade were also seen of various
things like prized dogs, tea, tobacco and flour. Further, the hostile relationship went on to emerge
and outcomes were terrible for both the parties.

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References and Bibliography
Alexander, A. ed., 2005. The companion to Tasmanian history. Centre for Tasmanian Historical
Studies, University of Tasmania.
Lawson, T., 2014. The last man: A British genocide in Tasmania. IB Tauris.
Roth, H.L., 2012. The aborigines of Tasmania. BoD–Books on Demand.
Ryan, L., 2008. Massacre in the Black War in Tasmania 1823–34: a case study of the Meander
River Region, June 1827. Journal of Genocide Research, 10(4), pp.479-499.
Ryan, L., 2013. The Black Line in Van Diemen's Land: success or failure?. Journal of Australian
Studies, 37(1), pp.3-18.
Sturma, M., 1985. Myall Creek and the psychology of mass murder. Journal of Australian
Studies, 9(16), pp.62-70.