tongerlongeter: first nations leader and tasmanian war hero, by henry reynolds and nicholas clements25/9/2021
A first class biography of a forgotten Australian war hero. Tasmania's Black War raged from the mid 1820s until its conclusion in 1832. The conflict was between the Oyster Bay – Big River clans and white settlers. There were many shocking atrocities on both sides. Initially the First Nations tribes thought the Europeans were their returned ancestors, but this reasoning came under sustained pressure as their lands were appropriated and women abducted, raped and murdered. Life became an intense struggle as food sources were dramatically reduced and comfortable resting places taken. Out of this chaos emerges the leader and war strategist Tongerlongeter. He managed to organise and maintain a dogged resistance against impossible odds, causing a general terror among the white population. Surrounded and with no other option, he and the last 25 of his people made a peace agreement. He was offered land to live on and guaranteed protection from whites. This promise was broken and he and his compatriots were sent to Flinders Island, which was rife with disease. He would die there, never seeing his homeland again. An excellent work of scholarship that chronicles in lucid detail a terrible war and acknowledges Tongerlongeter as an extraordinary fighter, one that history must remember. Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero, by Henry Reynolds and Nicholas Clements. Published by NewSouth. $34.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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