Book Description

Traces Aboriginal responses to invasion and dispossession in New South Wales; discusses early attempts by colonial authorities to recognise Aboriginal land rights and title 1838 to 1852; creation of Aboriginal reserves in pastoral areas and reasons for first reserves; dual occupation of land; impact of more intensified land use; setting up of the Aborigines Protection Board and its dispersal policies - characterised as the second wave of dispossession; formation of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association in New South Wales; describes life under the "Dog Act" in the 1930s; describes living conditions in Moree 1927 to 1933; Cumeragunja and the formation of the Australian Aboriginal League in Victoria; life under the 'Dog Act' in Menindee, Brewarrina and Burnt Bridge; land and politics 1937 to 1938; Cumeragunja strike 1939; politics in the 1950s and 1960s; reassertion of land rights 1957 to 1964; background and reasons for setting up Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972.