AustLit

'For the Dhan-gadi people of the Macleay Valley, European domination has been a constant feature of their lives since occupation of the valley in the mid nineteenth century, The historical specificities of this colonial domination-the kinds of Aboriginal-European interaction and the mechanisms of cultural, political and economic subordination-have changed continually through time. The aim of this chapter is to examine one of these moments of domination, It explores the way a changing configuration of power has in part structured Dhan-gadi responses, while itself being subject to subversion by continuous attempts by the Dhan-gadi to resist incorporation into an encompassing state system. In the period I am considering, namely the era 1936-68, during which the Aborigines were subject to Institutionalisation, one sees the emergence of subtle, non-violent forms of resistance.' (Introduction)