'Me Write Myself': The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land at Wybalenna, 1832-47 Contributor(s): Stevens, Leonie (Author) |
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ISBN: 1925495639 ISBN-13: 9781925495638 Publisher: Monash University Publishing
Binding Type: Paperback Published: November 2017 Click for more in this series: Australian History |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Australia & New Zealand - General - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
Dewey: FIC |
LCCN: 2017276129 |
Series: Australian History |
Physical Information: 1.3" H x 6" W x 9.2" L (1.41 lbs) 400 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Australian |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Exiles, lost souls, remnants of a dying race: the fate of the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen's Land is one of the most infamous chapters in Australian, and world, history. The men, women and children exiled to Flinders Island in the 1830s and 40s have often been written about, but never allowed to speak for themselves. This book aims to change that. Penned by the exiles during their fifteen years at the settlement called Wybalenna, items in the Flinders Island Chronicle, sermons, letters and petitions offer a compelling corrective to traditional portrayals of a hopeless, dispossessed, illiterate people's final days. The exiles did not see themselves as prisoners, but as a Free People. Seen through their own writing, the community at Wybalenna was vibrant, complex and evolving. Rather than a depressed people simply waiting for death, their own words reveal a politically astute community engaged in a fifteen year campaign for their own freedom: one which was ultimately successful. Me Write Myself is a compelling story that will profoundly affect understandings of Tasmanian and Australian history. The author, Dr. Leonie Stevens, researches and lectures in History. Previous to working with true stories, she had an extensive background as a fiction writer and editor. She is the author of six novels and a variety of short fiction. (Series: Australian History) Subject: Australian Studies, History, Aboriginal Studies] |
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