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'Me Write Myself’: The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna, 1832–47
Exiles, lost souls, remnants of a dying race ... The fate of the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen’s Land is one of the most infamous chapters in Australian, and world, history. The men, women and children exiled to Flinders Island in the 1830s and 40s have often been written about, but never allowed to speak for themselves. This book aims to change that.
Penned by the exiles during their fifteen years at the settlement called Wybalenna, items in the Flinders Island Chronicle, sermons, letters and petitions offer a compelling corrective to traditional portrayals of a hopeless, dispossessed, illiterate people’s final days. The exiles did not see themselves as prisoners, but as a Free People. Seen through their own writing, the community at Wybalenna was vibrant, complex and evolving. Rather than a depressed people simply waiting for death, their own words reveal a politically astute community engaged in a fifteen year campaign for their own freedom: one which was ultimately successful.
‘Me Write Myself’ is a compelling story that will profoundly affect understandings of Tasmanian and Australian history.
Penned by the exiles during their fifteen years at the settlement called Wybalenna, items in the Flinders Island Chronicle, sermons, letters and petitions offer a compelling corrective to traditional portrayals of a hopeless, dispossessed, illiterate people’s final days. The exiles did not see themselves as prisoners, but as a Free People. Seen through their own writing, the community at Wybalenna was vibrant, complex and evolving. Rather than a depressed people simply waiting for death, their own words reveal a politically astute community engaged in a fifteen year campaign for their own freedom: one which was ultimately successful.
‘Me Write Myself’ is a compelling story that will profoundly affect understandings of Tasmanian and Australian history.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 19, 2018
I would suggest that this very readable book should be a must for anyone that has an interest in the subject of Van Diemen’s Land colonial history. Author Leonie Stevens has written a compelling argument that the original VDL peoples were not down trodden by British colonialism when exiled to Flinders Island but became a free people who fought for their rights via the pen and other nonviolent methods once exiled to the remote Wybalenna settlement. In fact the hardy survivors finally received their ultimate freedom after a 15 year campaign that lead to a return to the mainland. This is the story itself and presented in chronological order.
Leonie Stevens is to be congratulated on what can only be described as utterly brilliant research. Using new sources from the VDL peoples themselves, such as the Flinders Island Chronicle, the author has brought to life the peoples by telling their story through their own words. As she writes “Academic rigour rarely, it seems, extends to consulting First Nation sources.” This book does just that. The first peoples come to life in this excellent book. We read and hear if we listen close “…. A vibrant, noisy and often rebellious community”. I came away from this read with a feeling that the first nation women were especially independent and hardy. Serial monogamy seemed to me to be just as much a women's prerogative. As to the sealer women’s independent nature these remarkable ladies deserve a book on their lives alone.
Monash University Publishing have the footnotes on the page being read as opposed to forcing the reader to the back of the book. I found not an error in the index. The primary and secondary sources in the bibliography are magnificent and if the subject is of further interest the reader has a resource that is second to none. This is as good as it gets and leaves some more famous historians and publishers for dead. If this fails to win awards into the future then the Australian publishing industry has no idea and needs to have a long hard look at itself. A brilliant book.
Leonie Stevens is to be congratulated on what can only be described as utterly brilliant research. Using new sources from the VDL peoples themselves, such as the Flinders Island Chronicle, the author has brought to life the peoples by telling their story through their own words. As she writes “Academic rigour rarely, it seems, extends to consulting First Nation sources.” This book does just that. The first peoples come to life in this excellent book. We read and hear if we listen close “…. A vibrant, noisy and often rebellious community”. I came away from this read with a feeling that the first nation women were especially independent and hardy. Serial monogamy seemed to me to be just as much a women's prerogative. As to the sealer women’s independent nature these remarkable ladies deserve a book on their lives alone.
Monash University Publishing have the footnotes on the page being read as opposed to forcing the reader to the back of the book. I found not an error in the index. The primary and secondary sources in the bibliography are magnificent and if the subject is of further interest the reader has a resource that is second to none. This is as good as it gets and leaves some more famous historians and publishers for dead. If this fails to win awards into the future then the Australian publishing industry has no idea and needs to have a long hard look at itself. A brilliant book.
January 22, 2018
‘The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna 1832-47’
I remember reading about the resettlement of Tasmanian Aborigines to Wybalenna on Flinders Island during the nineteenth century. I remember reading the justifications given: all from the perspective of the colonial authorities. I was totally unaware of any writing by those who were dispossessed and relocated. I was intrigued by the title of this book, and read it to find out more.
This book is the publication of Leonie Stevens’s PhD thesis. In her words:
‘This is a narrative history, which presents ideas, analysis and critiques chronologically. Given that its focus is documents and perspectives which were previously all but silenced, it is fitting that the overall structure is dictated by the nature of the texts themselves .’
I learned of the existence of the Flinders Island Chronicle, of sermons and letters written by the First Nation Peoples during the years of their exile to Wybalenna. And, as I read through each chapter, I started to hear voices from within the Wybalenna community. These exiles from their homelands saw themselves as free, and they wanted to return (as had been promised) home.
In the introduction, Leonie Stevens writes:
‘In the long and often problematic historiography surrounding the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen’s Land, one voice has largely been ignored: that of the people themselves. When two Big River nation elders wrote to the Governor in 1846, protesting the conditions of their exile, they signed their letter, proudly, ‘Me Write Myself King Alexander, Me Write Myself King Alphonso’. This study takes them at their word .’
It took me a while to appreciate the structure of Dr Stevens’s thesis, to try to move beyond what I thought I knew and to question some of what I had previously thought was accurate. Simply realising that the First Peoples were not passive, that they were actively involved in the activities of the settlement changed my perceptions. The various writing quoted engaged my attention (how can we have discounted or ignored these voices for so long?) but it was their petition (‘The Humble Petition of the Free Aborigines’) which held it, especially this part:
‘when we left our own place we were Plenty of People, we are now but a little one .’
Wybalenna changes over time. The First Peoples are subjected to (and often become part of) both the civilising mission and the Christianising missions undertaken. Much of what I read focusses on this. But it’s the reappointment of Doctor Henry Jeanneret as Superintendent which resulted in their petition to Queen Victoria in 1846. In 1847 Dr Jeanneret was again dismissed.
’18 October 1847 was a momentous date. After years of agitation by the VDL exiles, and months of planning by the colonial authorities, the VDL exiles boarded the Sisters. The journey took them south of Hobart, to Oyster Cove, where a former probation station had been prepared to house them.’
This may be the end of the Wybalenna settlement, but it’s not the end of the story of those who were part of it.
I am interested in history, but I am not an historian. Reading this book makes me wonder how much we should question what we think we know to be fact. Especially when so much of the history we read is often written by those with different cultural values and understandings than those being written about. This book should be a starting point, rather than an ending, for examining the voices of the First Nations Peoples at Wybalenna.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I remember reading about the resettlement of Tasmanian Aborigines to Wybalenna on Flinders Island during the nineteenth century. I remember reading the justifications given: all from the perspective of the colonial authorities. I was totally unaware of any writing by those who were dispossessed and relocated. I was intrigued by the title of this book, and read it to find out more.
This book is the publication of Leonie Stevens’s PhD thesis. In her words:
‘This is a narrative history, which presents ideas, analysis and critiques chronologically. Given that its focus is documents and perspectives which were previously all but silenced, it is fitting that the overall structure is dictated by the nature of the texts themselves .’
I learned of the existence of the Flinders Island Chronicle, of sermons and letters written by the First Nation Peoples during the years of their exile to Wybalenna. And, as I read through each chapter, I started to hear voices from within the Wybalenna community. These exiles from their homelands saw themselves as free, and they wanted to return (as had been promised) home.
In the introduction, Leonie Stevens writes:
‘In the long and often problematic historiography surrounding the First Nations peoples of Van Diemen’s Land, one voice has largely been ignored: that of the people themselves. When two Big River nation elders wrote to the Governor in 1846, protesting the conditions of their exile, they signed their letter, proudly, ‘Me Write Myself King Alexander, Me Write Myself King Alphonso’. This study takes them at their word .’
It took me a while to appreciate the structure of Dr Stevens’s thesis, to try to move beyond what I thought I knew and to question some of what I had previously thought was accurate. Simply realising that the First Peoples were not passive, that they were actively involved in the activities of the settlement changed my perceptions. The various writing quoted engaged my attention (how can we have discounted or ignored these voices for so long?) but it was their petition (‘The Humble Petition of the Free Aborigines’) which held it, especially this part:
‘when we left our own place we were Plenty of People, we are now but a little one .’
Wybalenna changes over time. The First Peoples are subjected to (and often become part of) both the civilising mission and the Christianising missions undertaken. Much of what I read focusses on this. But it’s the reappointment of Doctor Henry Jeanneret as Superintendent which resulted in their petition to Queen Victoria in 1846. In 1847 Dr Jeanneret was again dismissed.
’18 October 1847 was a momentous date. After years of agitation by the VDL exiles, and months of planning by the colonial authorities, the VDL exiles boarded the Sisters. The journey took them south of Hobart, to Oyster Cove, where a former probation station had been prepared to house them.’
This may be the end of the Wybalenna settlement, but it’s not the end of the story of those who were part of it.
I am interested in history, but I am not an historian. Reading this book makes me wonder how much we should question what we think we know to be fact. Especially when so much of the history we read is often written by those with different cultural values and understandings than those being written about. This book should be a starting point, rather than an ending, for examining the voices of the First Nations Peoples at Wybalenna.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
September 27, 2017
It’s not often that I close up a history book with a “Well done!”, but I did with Leonie Stevens’ beautifully written Me Write Myself. Right from its quietly restrained front cover, through to its ending which rounds off and yet expands and invites further conversation, this is a exquisitely crafted book. It works on so many levels: as narrative, as critique and as history.
Stevens mounts her argument right from the subtitle on the cover: ‘The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna’. “Wybalenna?” you may ask. It’s more commonly known as Flinders Island, most often characterized as the doomed settlement off the coast of Tasmania, where the remnants of the Tasmanian Aboriginal tribes were shunted to be forgotten in silence by colonists and colonial officials alike, in the 1830s and 1840s. And “free inhabitants?” Wasn’t this a form of concentration camp, on the way to what was seen to be an inevitable extinction? In Stevens’ hands, we see that these are not victims but “free aboriginal inhabitants” and not silent, even though historians may silenced them, often while bemoaning their fate.
...
This is an absolutely beautifully written book. Stevens engages and challenges other historians, but more with urgency and invitation to share, rather than oneupmanship. The narrative flows, capturing shift and change and moving, as Wybalenna moves. This is academic history written with head and heart, and with eyes and ears open.
For my complete review, visit https://residentjudge.wordpress.com/2...
Stevens mounts her argument right from the subtitle on the cover: ‘The Free Aboriginal Inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land at Wybalenna’. “Wybalenna?” you may ask. It’s more commonly known as Flinders Island, most often characterized as the doomed settlement off the coast of Tasmania, where the remnants of the Tasmanian Aboriginal tribes were shunted to be forgotten in silence by colonists and colonial officials alike, in the 1830s and 1840s. And “free inhabitants?” Wasn’t this a form of concentration camp, on the way to what was seen to be an inevitable extinction? In Stevens’ hands, we see that these are not victims but “free aboriginal inhabitants” and not silent, even though historians may silenced them, often while bemoaning their fate.
...
This is an absolutely beautifully written book. Stevens engages and challenges other historians, but more with urgency and invitation to share, rather than oneupmanship. The narrative flows, capturing shift and change and moving, as Wybalenna moves. This is academic history written with head and heart, and with eyes and ears open.
For my complete review, visit https://residentjudge.wordpress.com/2...
July 19, 2021
I’ve been really absorbed by this book for days. It’s a fascinating look at the history of the 1830s settlement of Tasmanian indigenous people in exile on Flinders Island. Two things stand out: in a forensic study of what indigenous people wrote or were recorded as speaking, historian Leonie Stevens convincingly reframes history to the point where you them see as free people, developing and adapting, able to express their will, as opposed to the long held belief they were a dying race. Second, there’s so much evaluation of previous historians’ work, providing such valuable perspective . It’s an eye opening read.
August 20, 2021
I found this book very interesting having been educated myself that Trugannina was the last Tasmanian aboriginal person.
There is so much new research being undertaken. Fresh eyes over old records. Eyes aware of inherent bias. Eyes and ears that are listening and reading the indigenous voice and script.
Apart from suffering tragedy, disease and injustices, the indigenous peoples were very vibrantly making adjustments, learning, using European political systems to meet their goals and surviving ! Albeit in much reduced numbers.
Interesting so many died of respiratory diseases, new to them. Very topical.
There is so much new research being undertaken. Fresh eyes over old records. Eyes aware of inherent bias. Eyes and ears that are listening and reading the indigenous voice and script.
Apart from suffering tragedy, disease and injustices, the indigenous peoples were very vibrantly making adjustments, learning, using European political systems to meet their goals and surviving ! Albeit in much reduced numbers.
Interesting so many died of respiratory diseases, new to them. Very topical.
April 2, 2018
This is an excellent book. I say that upfront, because halfway through the introduction Stevens was annoying the crap out of me*, and I want anyone reacting the same to Just. Keep. Going.
Like many people, I've read/learned versions of this story many times, and yet, never before now have I met the cast of characters. Steven's book is meticulously researched, helpfully and relentlessly footnoted**, and she refers where necessary to debates and alternate interpretations. But the triumph of this book is that the free Aboriginal inhabitants of VDL come alive. The book is at times very funny, at times very upsetting, and not infrequently inspirational.
We meet Thomas Brune, educated and ambitious young man with an opinion and a vehicle for expressing it; Walter Arthur, a young leader with charisma and influence and burning passion, who refuses to toe the line; the pious, ever preaching Noemi; Mary anne, with smarts and passion and a detirmination to free her people; and the various elders. Most wonderfully, we meet the Sealing Women, who variously, organise an unsuccessful escape/rescure; fuck who they want to everyone's chagrin; live by themselves; and continue ceremony on their own terms. Every part was fascinating, and while on the one hand it seemed like such an amazing feat to tell these stories, on the other, who come it has taken this long? How have we told this story so long, and yet denied humanity of the main protagonists? How much racism does that take, really, to assume it was only the Europeans who acted or had individuality. In any case, read this book, you won't be sorry.
*Stevens lays out her methodology for decolonising history with verve and strictness that only a coloniser-descended writer about colonised people can muster (I worked out she wasn't Aboriginal half way through, well before she declared this). It's not that I disagree with this - and the triumph kinda vindicates her approach - but that much certainty about any methodology makes me queasy.
**The ebook referencing was fabulous. Doing the endnotes by chapter made it manageable to skim them, in case something significant was missed, and the jumping back and forth worked too. I wish all ebooks did it this way.
Like many people, I've read/learned versions of this story many times, and yet, never before now have I met the cast of characters. Steven's book is meticulously researched, helpfully and relentlessly footnoted**, and she refers where necessary to debates and alternate interpretations. But the triumph of this book is that the free Aboriginal inhabitants of VDL come alive. The book is at times very funny, at times very upsetting, and not infrequently inspirational.
We meet Thomas Brune, educated and ambitious young man with an opinion and a vehicle for expressing it; Walter Arthur, a young leader with charisma and influence and burning passion, who refuses to toe the line; the pious, ever preaching Noemi; Mary anne, with smarts and passion and a detirmination to free her people; and the various elders. Most wonderfully, we meet the Sealing Women, who variously, organise an unsuccessful escape/rescure; fuck who they want to everyone's chagrin; live by themselves; and continue ceremony on their own terms. Every part was fascinating, and while on the one hand it seemed like such an amazing feat to tell these stories, on the other, who come it has taken this long? How have we told this story so long, and yet denied humanity of the main protagonists? How much racism does that take, really, to assume it was only the Europeans who acted or had individuality. In any case, read this book, you won't be sorry.
*Stevens lays out her methodology for decolonising history with verve and strictness that only a coloniser-descended writer about colonised people can muster (I worked out she wasn't Aboriginal half way through, well before she declared this). It's not that I disagree with this - and the triumph kinda vindicates her approach - but that much certainty about any methodology makes me queasy.
**The ebook referencing was fabulous. Doing the endnotes by chapter made it manageable to skim them, in case something significant was missed, and the jumping back and forth worked too. I wish all ebooks did it this way.
March 23, 2018
Ive not known much about Aboriginal people in Tasmania till this read. Its interesting to see how their interactions went as white men colonised and preached and converted.
November 30, 2018
Ponderous, academic but no doubt an important record on the subject. Author Stevens gives a detailed account, which often goes through many vignettes where one or two would do.
October 24, 2020
Take that, doomed race narrative.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews