Giving voice to a dark past

CREATIVITY & CULTURE

That relations between British colonisers and Indigenous Australians were marked by bloodshed is no secret. Nor is the vast disparity of the conflict’s impact. It’s thought that between the 1790s and 1930s around 20,000 Aboriginal people died violently; by contrast, European casualties are believed to be around a tenth of that number. These estimates, however, remain controversial. And while we have access to some settlers’ personal accounts of these events, through journal entries, letters, government records and the like, the Aboriginal perspective remains tellingly absent. Now, the University of Adelaide is leading efforts to clarify this important history, and redress the imbalance. A research team is building a comprehensive interactive geospatial map of colonial conflict in South Australia, populated with accounts of the events handed down through generations by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Jointly led by Associate Professor Robert Foster and Professor Amanda Nettelbeck, with support from historian Dr Skye Krichauff, the project will produce the first polyvocal account of the history, and historical memory, of frontier conflict in the state.

PROFESSOR ROBERT FOSTER Lead researcher

PROFESSOR AMANDA NETTELBECK Lead researcher

“We will engage, with great sensitivity of course, with Aboriginal and settler-descended communities right across South Australia,” says Foster. “This will allow us to capture and bring to light ‘frontier’ stories that may otherwise have remained hidden or could even be lost. And presenting them in this way will add additional layers of meaning, giving the narratives a strong sense of place and clearly illustrating their spatial relationships.” The map is being developed in association with the History Trust of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, State Library of South Australia, State Records of South Australia and Reconciliation South Australia, and will be hosted by these partners upon completion. “We’re pursuing this research in the spirit of ‘truth-telling’,” adds Nettelbeck.

“We need a better understanding of Australia’s colonial past if we are to advance the objectives of reconciliation.”