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Clip description
Storytellers Donald Kemarr Thompson and Alec Petyarr Peterson begin the story of Willaberta Jack with the brutal treatment Henty inflicted on Philomac, including chaining him up overnight to a metal block cemented into the ground. They explain how Philomac escaped from the station. The next day Henty, accompanied by tracker Jack Spratt, followed Philomac to an adjoining station managed by Willaberta Jack.
Curator’s notes
This 1920s frontier story set in the Northern Territory resonates nationally in its representation of the inhumane treatment inflicted upon Aboriginal people by unruly white settlers. The documentary revisits the sites where the story took place, including the place where Henty chained up Philomac overnight, before he escaped. Seeing the places where the events happened adds to the impact of the storytelling.
