In the wake of the recent swell of interest in the Australian War Memorial (and its absence of material acknowledging frontier conflicts) there have been new contributions to the ongoing historiographical debates over the status and nature of the Frontier Wars (1, 2, 3).
Throughout the 20th century there was reoccurring disagreement amongst historians as to whether these Frontier Wars happened, with prominent politicians such as John Howard and Paul Keating occupying different sides in the resultant 'History Wars' that played out in the media. The denial of the Frontier Wars was somewhat quelled in '00s and '10s due to cultural shifts in politics after the 2008 Apology but it would be wrong to say that pushback on this was ever truly gone. Suffice to say, it is now broadly accepted that the Frontier Wars happened.
As we move into the mid-2020s, however, we find that such historiographical debates are also now subject to the metaphysical knot of our times - fake news, information wars, and fake history. The sad reality today is that there are still people who seek to deny the existence of the Australian Frontier Wars, even in light of the increased coverage of this history. Thankfully there is very little in the mainstream media these days that flat-out rejects the Frontier Wars, but dismissal can still be witnessed in the words of politicians and throughout social media. Denial of the Frontier Wars and, by extension other historical tragedies faced by the Aboriginal peoples (such as the Stolen Generations), typically falls into two broad categories:
- Misinformation - factually incorrect history reported or shared by someone who isn't aware that it's factually incorrect.
- Disinformation - factually incorrect history but with the added complication that the person reporting or sharing the information is perfectly aware that it's factually incorrect.
On the surface, misinformation and disinformation look very similar but they operate in slightly different ways. Misinformation can be shared by people with a range of agendas - some may be seeking objective truth, others may be all too happy to find anything that confirms their own political biases. That's not a slight against a particular side of the political spectrum; everyone has political biases both conscious and unconscious.
Disinformation on the other hand is very much a sign of something more sinister. This is the creation of fake information intended to sway or mobilise support for something. It functions like the war propaganda of the 20th century but it's a lot sneakier - in the information age of the hyperactive 1440 minute news cycle with social media sharing, items going viral, and the increasingly blurred line between print and digital media, intentionally-created fake information can very quickly become legitimised. This legitimisation, in which the origins of the fakery become obscured through layers of information and widespread exposure, occurs when reputable public figures and news outlets pick up viral stories and report them under their own banner. This phenomenon (in which disinformation becomes widely available) is known as information laundering, and it's becoming disturbingly more common with every passing year.
In connection to the above, something else to watch out for is pseudohistory - a practice in which myths, legends, conspiracy theories, etc., are treated as historical fact. This usually originates from non-academic and amateur sources and can (but not always) be explicitly politically motivated. Pseudohistory plays a part in this discussion of fake history because it can take the form of both misinformation and disinformation.
An example of pseudohistory:
- There is a pseudohistorical claim that, prior to the arrival of the Aboriginal peoples, Australia was inhabited by another race of 'pygmy' people. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to get too off-track from the Frontier Wars - you can read more about it here in this clear and comprehensive explanation from the Australian Museum.
- The 'pygmy people' story becomes a form of misinformation if the person or outlet spreading the information is unaware that the existence of the pygmy people has been widely discredited by historical experts. They may be sharing the story because they want to prove something or influence someone's beliefs but they are likely to be genuine when they say that they believe the story themselves. If the story-spreader is familiar with the historical method, is open-minded, or is particularly sensitive to public scrutiny (because they value their own credibility), then it may be possible to counter such misinformation with the provision of evidence to the contrary.
- The 'pygmy people' story becomes disinformation if the story-spreader is aware that it's untrue or has little care for whether it's supported by evidence or not. In this situation they are definitely sharing the story to further a particular agenda and they evidently do not value the historical method. There is little that can realistically be done to convince an agent of disinformation to stop. The best approach in these cases is fact-checking - to counter the pseudohistorical claims by publicly sharing rational evidence that disproves it, and thus allowing the story-spreader's audience to see the untruths for what they are. This will at least slow down the spread of such disinformation and prevent it from being picked up by legitimate figures/news outlets who may not know better.
The Frontier Wars
The last few decades and the wider cultural shift within Australian society in light of the Bringing Them Home report, Reconciliation, and other political changes, has meant that there is now an increased acknowledgement of the Frontier Wars in the nation's historical record. There are difficulties in recovering a complete record of events that have, for all intents and purposes, been suppressed for the best part of a hundred years. Nonetheless, the silence of the past is not so insurmountable that we cannot get a pretty clear picture of the tragic violence and warfare that gripped this country for the best part of the 19th century.
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| 'Bulla' - an illustration by William Hodgkinson, 1861 |
Below you will find a range of sources that provide information on the conflicts. These aren't exhaustive but they're a good start:
Colonial Frontier Massacres Map. Overseen by Lyndell Ryan.
An ongoing project from the University of Newcastle that draws upon the latest research to construct an interactive database of all of the massacres experienced by the Aboriginal peoples from 1788 to 1930.
Land is Life: From Bush to Town by Richard Baker.
A localised account of the life of the Yanyuwa Aboriginal people in Far North Australia. Much of this text relates to culture and the relationship that the Yanyuwa maintained with the Macassan Asians prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Of interest to a study of the Frontier Wars, the book provides some valuable Aboriginal oral history accounts of the brutal conflict between the Yanyuwa and freshly-arrived Europeans in the 19th century.
A History of Bathurst, Volume 1 by Theo Barker
A large chapter (about 20% of the book) is dedicated to "The Period of Conflict 1820-1832", and details the Governor's declaration of martial law as the early British colony faced an organised and prolonged Wiradjuri resistance. The book has some difficulties with using the phrase 'Frontier War', instead opting to use words like 'attacks' and 'violence', however, there's a lot of primary evidence called upon here that could suggest little else.
Hawkesbury Settlement Revealed 1793-1802 by Jan Barkley-Jack.
This weighty volume is wholly focused on the creation and development of the Hawkesbury region under British settlement. As such, only a relatively small portion is given over to the Aboriginal history of the area. The author adheres quite closely to the historical method, constructing a narrative based on a range of primary sources. This means that, even though the central thesis is one of settlement and pastoral growth, Barkley-Jack still does not avoid mentioning the protracted conflict between the British and the Aboriginal peoples in the area. That said, there is some effort here to restrict the violence to "just a handful of settlers in a specific location over a five-year period" and the author is not able to attribute the deaths of 30 Aboriginal people in this time to a 'Frontier War'.
The Black War by Nicholas Clements.
I've read a handful of accounts of the Tasmanian Frontier War and this one is easily the best due to the extensive use of irrefutable primary sources. A highly detailed and heavily-researched account of the most infamous of Australia's Frontier Wars.
Dancing with Strangers by Inga Clendinnen.
A must-read for any history teacher or person interested in Australia's story, Clendinnen weaves a highly engaging narrative around the first days of the Sydney colony, depicting a relatively peaceful first contact between peoples and then portraying the moments that led to the birth of the Frontier Wars.
Windradyne: A Wiradjuri Koorie by Mary Coe.
An Aboriginal perspective of an Aboriginal war hero of the 19th century. This book provides a compelling narrative of the events of the Bathurst War from the point of view of the Wiradjuri resistance.
The Australian Frontier Wars 1788-1838 by John Connor.
Of all the books on this list, Connor's is unique in being the only military history book (a distinct subgenre of history writing). One of the more essential texts on this list, Connor provides maps, statistics, and campaign evidence on every known frontier conflict from the nominated time period.
The Future Eaters by Tim Flannery.
Flannery's historical scope is much larger than others on this list due to his background as a naturalist. The Future Eaters is a fascinating piece of research that explores the coexistence of the earliest Aboriginal peoples with Australia's now extinct megafauna, and this segues into a more devastating account of the Aboriginal struggle for survival after the arrival of the Europeans. Flannery's book blends scientific perspective with historical research, utilising sourcework to demonstrate cause and effect between European arrival and Frontier conflict. He also unflinchingly examines the role of the Native Police, one of the more disturbing impacts of British arrival upon the Aboriginal peoples.
Talking to My Country by Stan Grant.
Grant's memoir is highly personal but also focused in particular on his Aboriginal identity. This includes an exploration of the way he sees the Frontier Wars, demonstrating the ongoing reverberations of this history and why it needs to be better addressed.
The Tiwi of North Australia by C.W.M. Hart and Arnold R. Pilling.
Having been written by European anthropologists in the 1950s, there is a lot in this book that is quite outdated and also downright offensive. That said, it's powerful to see that even in 1959 there was an awareness amongst researchers that first contact between Europeans and the Tiwi Aboriginal people was initially quite hostile. This includes a frank account of the failed attempt to turn the Tiwi Islands into 'Fort Dundas', Australia's early 19th century answer to the bustling Asian port of Singapore. Hart and Pilling's assertion that the British and the Tiwi "did not make friends" is an understatement (to say the least) and, after describing the drawn-out four year conflict that led to the abandonment of Fort Dundas in 1829, the authors admit that "Tiwi treatment of outsiders prior to 1900 had been to rob them, spear them, kill them" due to justified fears of blackbirding.
The Forgotten War by Henry Reynolds.
Reynolds explores the idea that a full and complete acknowledgement of the Frontier Wars is needed before true reconciliation can be achieved. The historian parallels the reconciliation movement with accounts of the Frontier Wars, providing evidence to suggest that Aboriginal resistance not only occurred but was widespread and highly strategic. This is a great historiographical study of the way in which Australian society has dealt with the Frontier Wars over time, including an examination of the political commentary throughout the '80s and '90s that sought to reject the history or call attention to it. Of most shocking note is the provision of firsthand testimony from Edward Curr, an 1820s Australian politician who estimated that 15-25% of the Aboriginal population died as a result of the early days of the frontier conflict. Reynolds also assesses the available evidence and written primary sources against the United Nations conditions for classifying something as genocide and... the result isn't good.
The Whispering in Our Hearts by Henry Reynolds.
Essentially an account of early settler guilt, this book uncovers the histories of white protesters who agitated for better treatment of the Aboriginal peoples throughout the 19th century. This is juxtaposed throughout the text with primary sources that refer to frontier conflicts and government policy connected to such hostilities.
Black War by Clive Turnbull.
This 1948 history book isn't particularly reliable in terms of presenting an objective account of the war between Aboriginal Tasmanians and the British. I include this here simply to demonstrate that historians were quite comfortable talking about Frontier Wars some 75 years ago and that there's evidently some continuity in acknowledging its existence over time.
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A lot of the above is quite grim reading but also incredibly useful to anyone interested in the Frontier Wars. The more I read about these conflicts the more I realise there is still a lot to learn. I'll leave this blog with one final note regarding the ongoing historiography of the Frontier Wars - as of February, 2023, the new chair of the War Memorial, former politician Kim Beazley, has indicated that he plans to dedicate some of the institution's $500 million expansion to a "proper recognition" of the Frontier Wars.
