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Source 7.30. Extract of the Myall Creek Massacre from Crossroads: Imperialism and
race relations (Cowie, 1982, p. 302)
The information provided in Source 7.30 is justified for inclusion in the textbook, as it acts as
an anomaly to other events represented in textbooks regarding Indigenous Australians. In this
example, Indigenous Australians are empowered through the legal system to not only provide
evidence in a criminal trial, but also to obtain justice for crimes committed against them.
However, concern that reporting of crimes would cease due to just penalties is highlighted
with the concluding statement “…some writers on Aboriginal society feared that crimes
against Aborigines were, after this event, committed in greater secrecy” (Cowie, 1982, p.
302). Who these writers were and whether these claims were to be shown as founded or not is
not explored in this textbook.
7.6.2 Discourses of genocide.
Covering the violence committed in Tasmania to Aboriginals in the early 1800s, Cowie uses
the provocative term “genocide” (Cowie, 1982, p. 302) in Crossroads: Imperialism and race
relations as seen in Source 7.31. This term still provokes debates by historians as to whether
it is an accurate interpretation of past events. Interestingly, Cowie’s use of the word genocide
avoided the controversy that surrounded the use of an equally emotive term invasion in
Queensland in 1994 as detailed in Appendix A: Contexts, with the popular media and critics
not picking up on Cowie’s extensive use of this term. 14 After providing an overview of some
14 Similarly, Ian Gray also uses the term “invasion” in Essentials of history, in a section on the Frontier
conflicts, “this invasion of their land attempt to remove their culture was resisted by the Aboriginal people, and
there were continual clashes with whites” (1988, p. 57). The use of the term in Gray’s textbook also passed
unnoticed by the wider community.
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