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Trouwerner
Trouwerner is an inviting yarn between Elder Aunty Patsy Cameron, the 28th Tasmanian Governor Kate Warner, and journalist Martin Flanagan. It weaves through the coming-into-being time, Trouwerner’s colonisation and the lies of history, to the power of truth-telling and hope for the future. It is a story of kinship and respect, of realism and optimism, welcoming the reader into the conversation.
“Down the gravel road where Patsy lived as a child is a stretch of tall bush. Like a stage curtain, it hides the vista of Franklin Sound. Walking through that bush with Patsy is like entering a crowded room where you are a stranger and your companion seems to know everyone.”
“Down the gravel road where Patsy lived as a child is a stretch of tall bush. Like a stage curtain, it hides the vista of Franklin Sound. Walking through that bush with Patsy is like entering a crowded room where you are a stranger and your companion seems to know everyone.”
- GenresNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
Published February 11, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 2, 2025
Wow. This was an eye-opening read that made me emotional thinking about the displacement and genocide of the aboriginal people of Tasmania (trouwerner). This isn’t a history that I have been taught before. Patsy’s stories about Mannalargenna and the Traulwulway clan really made me feel connected to place - even though I haven’t stepped foot in Tebrakunna or most of the north of the state for that matter.
Flanagan did a great job at letting Aunty Patsy Cameron’s voice and connection to country & culture shine through in his writing.
Definitely essential reading for Tasmanians.
Flanagan did a great job at letting Aunty Patsy Cameron’s voice and connection to country & culture shine through in his writing.
Definitely essential reading for Tasmanians.
September 7, 2025
Tasmania has a sordid history
Like so many older people we were taught that there Tasmanian aborigines were extinct.
Fortunately Aunty Patsy Cameron and others are showing us otherwise
5 stars
Like so many older people we were taught that there Tasmanian aborigines were extinct.
Fortunately Aunty Patsy Cameron and others are showing us otherwise
5 stars
June 20, 2025
An important contribution to truth telling in Tasmanian history. Very accessible and a book I’ll return to for its simple yet powerful messages around learning from the past.
March 16, 2025
Hope for a better future…
When I grew up in Tasmania, I was taught that there were no longer any Indigenous Tasmanians. And, because of that assertion (presented as fact) very little time was spent on any history pre-dating European discovery and then settlement.
By the time I left Tasmania in 1974, this view of history was already being challenged. The Aboriginal Information Service (later the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre) was formed in 1971. But it is only more recently that I have started to look more closely at the history I was taught and to listen to some of the voices challenging it.
Reading this book is like listening to a conversation between Aunty Patsy Cameron, the 28th Tasmanian Governor Kate Warner, and journalist Martin Flanagan. Of the three, my background is most like Martin Flanagan’s, and I can relate to much of his perspective. I have been to Flinders Island, and I am aware of the sad history around the removal of Indigenous Tasmanians to the Furneaux Group.
Aunty Patsy Cameron spent her formative years on Flinders Island and traces her heritage through her mother’s line to four ancestral grandmothers: Pleenpereener, Wyerlooberer, Teekoolterme and Pollerelbrener. At the head of her family is Teekoolterme's father, the revered Pairrebeenne/Trawlwoolway clan leader and formidable warrior: Mannalargenna.
Aunty Patsy Cameron tells of her family history, of kinship connections, of cultural heritage. Her yarn invites the reader into a different view of the past. I became caught up in descriptions of country and people and, yes, I will be revisiting the book soon.
Kate Warner’s contribution reminds me that times are changing and thankfully the past is no longer ignored. There is hope for the future. And Martin Flanagan adds personal observation while drawing the various strands of yarn together.
Highly recommended, especially to those of us who grew up with the lie that Indigenous Tasmanians were extinct.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
When I grew up in Tasmania, I was taught that there were no longer any Indigenous Tasmanians. And, because of that assertion (presented as fact) very little time was spent on any history pre-dating European discovery and then settlement.
By the time I left Tasmania in 1974, this view of history was already being challenged. The Aboriginal Information Service (later the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre) was formed in 1971. But it is only more recently that I have started to look more closely at the history I was taught and to listen to some of the voices challenging it.
Reading this book is like listening to a conversation between Aunty Patsy Cameron, the 28th Tasmanian Governor Kate Warner, and journalist Martin Flanagan. Of the three, my background is most like Martin Flanagan’s, and I can relate to much of his perspective. I have been to Flinders Island, and I am aware of the sad history around the removal of Indigenous Tasmanians to the Furneaux Group.
Aunty Patsy Cameron spent her formative years on Flinders Island and traces her heritage through her mother’s line to four ancestral grandmothers: Pleenpereener, Wyerlooberer, Teekoolterme and Pollerelbrener. At the head of her family is Teekoolterme's father, the revered Pairrebeenne/Trawlwoolway clan leader and formidable warrior: Mannalargenna.
Aunty Patsy Cameron tells of her family history, of kinship connections, of cultural heritage. Her yarn invites the reader into a different view of the past. I became caught up in descriptions of country and people and, yes, I will be revisiting the book soon.
Kate Warner’s contribution reminds me that times are changing and thankfully the past is no longer ignored. There is hope for the future. And Martin Flanagan adds personal observation while drawing the various strands of yarn together.
Highly recommended, especially to those of us who grew up with the lie that Indigenous Tasmanians were extinct.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 5, 2025
I was a bit disappointed in this book. It seemed more a collection of ancedotes that an actual historical
recollection. Flanagan definitely has a way with words and a converstional style, but I didn't feel I learnt more about Tasmanian First Nations People than I already knew. It did connect with information from some of my previous readings on the subject.
recollection. Flanagan definitely has a way with words and a converstional style, but I didn't feel I learnt more about Tasmanian First Nations People than I already knew. It did connect with information from some of my previous readings on the subject.
December 25, 2025
I struggled with this book, it seemed very disjointed and hard to read, The story didn’t seem to flow at least to me it didn’t. it took at least 100 pages before it seemed to pick up and the last 50 pages before it came together
I nearly gave up several times and probably would have if it wasn’t for a book club.
I nearly gave up several times and probably would have if it wasn’t for a book club.
July 26, 2025
Fascinating history of Tasmanian First Peoples.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews