Warrior (Paperback)

Libby Connors

ISBN 10: 1760110485 / ISBN 13: 9781760110482

Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2015

About this Item

Paperback. Winner of the 2015 Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State SignificanceWinner of the 2016 Magarey Medal for Biography'Connors lays down the hard truth. Not all our warriors were Anzacs. Not all our wars were just.' - John Birmingham, author and columnistIn the 1840s, white settlement in the north was under attack. European settlers were in awe of Aboriginal physical fitness and fighting prowess, and a series of deadly raids on homesteads made even the townspeople of Brisbane anxious.Young warrior Dundalli was renowned for his size and strength, and his elders gave him the task of leading the resistance against the Europeans' ever increasing incursions on their traditional lands. Their response was embedded in Aboriginal law and Dundalli became one of their greatest lawmen. With his band of warriors, he had the settlers in thrall for twelve years, evading capture again and again, until he was finally arrested and publicly executed.Warrior is the extraordinary story of one of Australia's little-known heroes, one of many Aboriginal men to die protecting their country. It is also a fresh and compelling portrait of life in the early days of white settlement of Brisbane and south east Queensland.'An enduring record of one of our greatest heroes.' - Sam Watson, activist and writer'Deeply considered and powerfully told, this book recovers the entangled history of Aboriginal people and settlers in colonial Queensland, a history which is also Australia's story writ large.' - Associate Professor Grace Karskens, University of NSW The fascinating story of one of the great Aboriginal resistance fighters of the colonial frontier and a compelling portrait of life in early Brisbane. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781760110482

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Warrior (Paperback)
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin, Sydney
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1760110485
• ISBN 13: 9781760110482
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Dundalli was one of the great Aboriginal warriors of the frontier, and his name is warmly remembered in the Aboriginal community of Brisbane, where he was publicly executed for murder in January, 1855. Libby Connors has reconstructed his life story from both the Aboriginal and European perspectives of the time, resulting in a fresh and powerful insight into the early days of white settlement in Brisbane and south eastern Queensland. She shows how attempts at accommodation with early pastoralists and missionaries went terribly wrong, and the negotiations between the powerful local clans that resulted in murderous reprisals by the original landowners, sparking in turn ferocious responses from fearful Europeans. Despite leading several of the most spectacular attacks on pastoralists and missionaries, Dundalli managed to escape capture again and again. The story of his arrest, trial, and execution are dramatic end to the life of a man who always upheld traditional Aboriginal law.

About the Author

Libby Connors is a senior lecturer in history at the University of Southern Queensland. She is author of Australia's Frontline and co-author of A History of the Australian Environment Movement.