NTWF 2024 - The Shadows of History

Join Burruberongal novelist of the Darug Aboriginal Nation, Julie Janson, and historian of the colonial frontier, Robyn Smith, for a discussion about uncovering forgotten events, and the long shadows cast by history.

Julie Janson's latest novel, Compassion, is the dramatised life story of one of her ancestors, who was put on trial for stealing livestock. It is a rollicking and violent tale of anti-colonial revenge that depicts the dangerous lives Aboriginal women were forced to lead in 1800s Australia.

Robyn Smith's recently published history, License to Kill: Massacre Men of Australia's North, is a long overdue reckoning with the widespread violence of the NT frontier. It chronicles events that were wilfully forgotten, and reveals how they were part of a broader pattern of violence and dispossession that was repeated across the continent.

Together, these authors discuss how the past has been memorialised and (mis)remembered, and the urgent need for truthtelling if our country is to move forward from its troubled history. This panel is facilitated by Meredith Lake. 

Content warning: this conversation refers to historical events that some may find distressing, especially those who identify as First Nations.

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