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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Brennan theorises on the racial origins of Aboriginal Australians and outlines European contact by Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish ships in the 1600s, including the wreck of the Batavia in 1628. He deplores the brutal and unjustifiable treatment of the indigenous peoples following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, and relates a series of massacres that occurred from Tasmania to Queensland. Brennan had extensive contact with Aborigines and learnt several dialects. He vigorously defends Aboriginal people against the derogatory claims made about them and their culture by early writers, and was active in petitioning for land for an Aboriginal family group who came to him for assistance.
Notes
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Has epigraph:
'How in this rugged land, Australia,
The Aborigine Patriots bled and died for Liberty.'
Also includes a quote from Horace, Epis. i., I, plus a long quote from an unattributed poem, possibly written by Brennan.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
- Aboriginal Australians
- Aboriginal culture
- Aboriginal-White conflict
- European discovery of Australia
- Batavia (Sailing ship)
- Aboriginal Pre-Contact History
- Early settlement of Australia
- Genocide & massacres
- Aboriginal rock art
- Aboriginal law
- Legal system
- Aboriginal dispossession
- Aboriginal land rights & native title
- Aboriginal reserves & missions
- Spiritual & religious beliefs
- Queanbeyan area, Canberra region (NSW), Southeastern NSW, New South Wales,
- New Norcia, Victoria Plains area, Moora - Victoria Plains area, Southwest Western Australia, Western Australia,
