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Clip description
Author Steve Kinnane of the Miriworng Nation sets the historical context of the clip. Western Australian police are reacting to calls from cattle farmers to enact revenge for loss of stock at the hands of Aboriginal hunters. Historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation and Dr Noel Nannup of the Noongar-Indjabarndi Nations evoke empathy for the treatment of the prisoners and their transportation to Rottnest Island, WA. Voice re-enactments of historical records layered over archival photographs work together to bring focus to individual prisoners like Johnny Widjee Widjee.
Curator’s notes
Langton’s use of the phrase ‘try to imagine’ is typical of her style of historical interpretation throughout the series. It encourages the audience to really think about how it would feel to be a late 19th century Aboriginal prisoner in Western Australia.
What is truly disheartening about this episode are the images of once proud Aboriginal men in chains, and hearing the historical records and letters of the prisoners of Rottnest as they lose hope and become resigned to their fate.
