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The Pakana Voice Tales of a War Correspondent from Lutruwita (Tasmania) 1814-1856 by Ian Broinowski
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘Tales of a War Correspondent from Lutruwita (Tasmania) 1814-1856’
Over half a century ago, when I was being educated in Tasmania, I was taught that there were no longer any Tasmanian Aborigines. They were all gone, a sad (and apparently inevitable) consequence of European settlement. Half a century ago, I didn’t think to question this. Some years later, I learned that the history I had been taught was both incomplete and inaccurate. And so it was with interest that I read this book, which is about newspapers and the power of the press to influence public opinion.
Blending fact and fiction, by drawing on newspapers from Van Diemen’s Land in the first half of the 19th century and introducing the fictional W.C. as a witness, Dr Broinowski tries to expand our view and understanding of events.
‘I am a war correspondent and have spent much of my adult life covering the war in Lutruwita, between the Pakana people and the British Empire.’
As the narrative opens, W.C. is an elderly man looking back on events. He may be at some distance now, with the comfort provided by his dog Bent and malt whisky, but he has his memories, books and papers. We never learn who W.C. is, only that as a young man he first travelled to Lutruwita as a young British journalist. While I found some of W.C.’s adventures improbable, they served to give him a close appreciation of the Pakana people (Indigenous Tasmanians). His love for Lowana, a Pakana woman, has remained with him for life. His involvement with the Pakana people enables him to view them differently from most of his peers. His journalistic skills enable him to present alternate interpretations of events. While the colonial newspapers of the day tended to portray the Pakana as aggressors in any violent interactions with Europeans, W.C. provides context and much more coverage of the atrocities committed against the Pakana. It makes for haunting reading.
We follow a path of dispossession, murder and removal. We observe the moral high ground occupied by those who believe that the Pakana are inferior and justify their actions accordingly. And, occasionally, a voice speaks out against the majority.
There’s a wonderful scene where W.C. asks a final question in an interview with John Batman at the Cornwall Hotel in Launceston:
‘‘John, in many years to come, do you think you will be remembered with bridges and monuments built and numerous places named in your honour as a leading founder of Melbourne, or will you be remembered as a mass murderer of Ben Lomond Nation women, children and men and killer of the wounded?’
The whole tavern froze; you could have heard a pin drop.’
I did not find this is an easy book to read. It is almost 500 pages long, and a reminder of a history ignored or glossed over, events that many of us would prefer to forget. I suspect that those who do not want to confront this history will not be moved by W.C.’s opinions. For me, the strength of this book was the inclusion of so many articles from the colonial newspapers of the time, providing such a clear (and sobering) view of public opinion.
‘Ask yourself, what is the story not telling?’
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in looking at different perspectives on the history we were taught. It’s a book to read slowly, to revisit. And if you’ve not previously read ‘The Native’s Lament’ dated 22 April 1826 (published on Page 4 of the Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser [Hobart] on Fri 5 May 1826) which is included in this book (and accessible online via Trove), I recommend it.
Note: My thanks to Dr Ian Broinowski for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes. It has found a home on my bookshelf.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Over half a century ago, when I was being educated in Tasmania, I was taught that there were no longer any Tasmanian Aborigines. They were all gone, a sad (and apparently inevitable) consequence of European settlement. Half a century ago, I didn’t think to question this. Some years later, I learned that the history I had been taught was both incomplete and inaccurate. And so it was with interest that I read this book, which is about newspapers and the power of the press to influence public opinion.
Blending fact and fiction, by drawing on newspapers from Van Diemen’s Land in the first half of the 19th century and introducing the fictional W.C. as a witness, Dr Broinowski tries to expand our view and understanding of events.
‘I am a war correspondent and have spent much of my adult life covering the war in Lutruwita, between the Pakana people and the British Empire.’
As the narrative opens, W.C. is an elderly man looking back on events. He may be at some distance now, with the comfort provided by his dog Bent and malt whisky, but he has his memories, books and papers. We never learn who W.C. is, only that as a young man he first travelled to Lutruwita as a young British journalist. While I found some of W.C.’s adventures improbable, they served to give him a close appreciation of the Pakana people (Indigenous Tasmanians). His love for Lowana, a Pakana woman, has remained with him for life. His involvement with the Pakana people enables him to view them differently from most of his peers. His journalistic skills enable him to present alternate interpretations of events. While the colonial newspapers of the day tended to portray the Pakana as aggressors in any violent interactions with Europeans, W.C. provides context and much more coverage of the atrocities committed against the Pakana. It makes for haunting reading.
We follow a path of dispossession, murder and removal. We observe the moral high ground occupied by those who believe that the Pakana are inferior and justify their actions accordingly. And, occasionally, a voice speaks out against the majority.
There’s a wonderful scene where W.C. asks a final question in an interview with John Batman at the Cornwall Hotel in Launceston:
‘‘John, in many years to come, do you think you will be remembered with bridges and monuments built and numerous places named in your honour as a leading founder of Melbourne, or will you be remembered as a mass murderer of Ben Lomond Nation women, children and men and killer of the wounded?’
The whole tavern froze; you could have heard a pin drop.’
I did not find this is an easy book to read. It is almost 500 pages long, and a reminder of a history ignored or glossed over, events that many of us would prefer to forget. I suspect that those who do not want to confront this history will not be moved by W.C.’s opinions. For me, the strength of this book was the inclusion of so many articles from the colonial newspapers of the time, providing such a clear (and sobering) view of public opinion.
‘Ask yourself, what is the story not telling?’
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in looking at different perspectives on the history we were taught. It’s a book to read slowly, to revisit. And if you’ve not previously read ‘The Native’s Lament’ dated 22 April 1826 (published on Page 4 of the Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser [Hobart] on Fri 5 May 1826) which is included in this book (and accessible online via Trove), I recommend it.
Note: My thanks to Dr Ian Broinowski for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes. It has found a home on my bookshelf.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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