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places where the natives were treated with kindness and affection, and that much
of the harshness was due to ignorance and misunderstanding. But for actual
cruelty, which unfortunately cannot be denied, no excuse is possible. (Palmer and
McLeod, 1954/1964, p. 61, emphasis added).
Although the two primary sources included in this section of the textbook are of two different
perspectives, at no stage are the perspectives of any Indigenous Australians given. Instead,
Indigenous Australians are written about not by. So, the students are only ever receiving the
perspective of a someone who is non-Indigenous, furthering the likelihood of Indigenous
Australians being seen as victims of history and in need of being ‘looked after’ and afforded
protection; rather than being in control of their lives and events which shape their
experiences.
6.5.3 Discourses of justice.
In Source 6.23, one of two narratives within discourses of justice; blame is not attributed to
either the Indigenous population or “squatters” (Blackmore et al., 1969, p. 164) for engaging
in what is referred to simply as a “conflict” (Blackmore et al., 1969, p. 164). Rather, it is
reported in this narrative as “each side took direct action with predictable results” (Blackmore
et al., 1969, p. 164). The example provided of the Frontier Conflicts is a case on the Wando
Vale (called Wannon in the narrative) property in 1849 where the owners, the Whyte
brothers, retaliate after a group of local Indigenous Australians, by all accounts, purposefully
steal a herd of sheep. On the one hand the textbook appears sympathetic to the violent
outcome, with a primary source account of the event pre-empted with “the story of the
slaughter of Aborigines” (Blackmore et al., 1969, p. 164). Use of the term slaughter indicates
some kind of sympathy towards the victims of the violent clash. However, this is somewhat
contradicted when, at the end of the primary source accounts which concludes with “There
was, therefore, no trial, although it was with some show of justice maintained that several of
the blacks had been shot when the conflict was over and the sheep recovered” (Blackmore et
al., 1969, p. 165, emphasis added). The reader is not told who shot the Indigenous
Australians, nor is the reason for referring to their death as justice resolved. Whilst it could be
accurately asserted that because stealing sheep is a crime, then punishment needs to be dealt
out, the level of unequal violence without anyone being brought forth to face justice in the
legal system is not mediated or resolved for the students reading the textbook.
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