Living with the Locals

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

Without the generosity of Australian Indigenous people, the chances of an early European surviving a shipwreck or a penal escape were slim in the nineteenth century.

Living with the Locals book cover

John Maynard and Victoria Haskins tell the extraordinary stories of 13 white men, boys and women who were taken in by the Indigenous people of the Torres Strait islands and eastern Australia in their book, ‘Living with the Locals: Early Europeans Experience of Indigenous Life.’

Between 1790 and the 1870, some stayed for just a few months, others over 30 years.

Many of them were given Indigenous names—Bunboé, Murrangurk, Duramboi, Waki, Giom, Anco.

They assimilated, to varying degrees, into an Indigenous way of life, several marrying and learning the language and, for the most part, both parties mourned their return to European life.

These stories also provide a fascinating glimpse into Indigenous life at a time when negative attitudes towards Indigenous people gave rise to misinterpretation of events and sensationalised versions of the stories.

This point of early contact between Indigenous people and British colonists, provided an opportunity for white survivors to speak up against the appalling treatment of the Indigenous people, advocating for conciliation and land rights.

They also were unwilling to reveal Indigenous beliefs and customs to unsympathetic colonists.

Watch six extraordinary animated first contact stories of friendship and survival produced by ABC Radio National; James MorrillWilliam BuckleyNarcisse PelletierBarbara ThomsonJohn Wilson and James Davis.

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