Tongerlongeter First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero

Australia has no war hero more impressive than Tongerlongeter. Leader of the Oyster Bay nation of south-east Tasmania in the 1820s and ’30s, Tongerlongeter and his allies led the most effective frontier resistance ever mounted on Australian soil. They killed or wounded some 354—or 4 per cent—of the invaders of their country. Tongerlongeter’s brilliant campaign inspired terror throughout the colony, forcing Governor George Arthur to launch a massive military operation in 1830—the infamous Black Line. Tongerlongeter escaped but the cumulative losses had taken their toll. On New Year’s Eve 1831, having lost his arm, his country, and all but 25 of his people, the chief agreed to an armistice. In exile on Flinders Island, this revered warrior united most of the remnant tribes and became the settlement’s ‘King’—a beacon of hope in a hopeless situation.

Henry Reynolds is one of Australia’ s most recognised historians. He grew up in Hobart and was educated at Hobart High School and the University of Tasmania. In 1965, he accepted a lectureship at James Cook University in Townsville, which sparked an interest in the history of relations between settlers and Aboriginal people. In 2000, he took up a professorial fellowship at the University of Tasmania. His pioneering work has changed the way we see the intertwining of black and white history in Australia. Nicholas Clements is an eighth generation Tasmanian who has spent most of his life in the Tamar Valley. In addition to being a family man and a keen rock climber, he is a part-time teacher of history, philosophy and psychology. He is also an adjunct researcher at the University of Tasmania, where he completed his PhD on the island’ s Aboriginal and early contact histories. His 2014 book, The Black War: Fear, Sex and Resistance in Tasmania, explored the motivations and experiences of both Aborigines and colonists during that conflict.

Authors’ note Introduction 1 An extraordinary day 2 The explorers arrive 3 Confrontation at Risdon 4 Coming of age 5 Newcomers 6 A wayward brother 7 Retribution (1824– 27) 8 Resistance (1828– 30) 9 Striking terror (1828– 30) 10 White devils 11 Things fall apart 12 Armistice 13 Exile 14 ‘ Till all the black men are dead’ Conclusion: ‘ A brave and patriotic people’ Afterword Acknowledgments Notes Index