The Good Country : The Djadja Wurrung, The Settlers and the Protectors

by Bain Attwood

In this superbly researched book Bain Attwood eschews the generalisations of national and colonial history to provide a finely grained local history of the Djadja Wurrung people of Central Victoria. Insisting on the importance of grappling with a history that involved a relationship between the people of this Aboriginal nation, the British settlers who invaded their country, and men appointed by the imperial and the colonial governments to protect the Aboriginal people, as well as a relationship between the Djadja Wurrung and their indigenous neighbours, Attwood not only tells the shocking story of the destruction, decimation, and dispossession of the Djadja Wurrung, he draws on an unusually rich historical record, and forgoes any reliance on historical concepts such as the frontier and resistance, to recover a good deal of the modus vivendi that the Djadja Wurrung reached with sympathetic protectors, pastoralists, and gold diggers, showing how they both adopted and adapted to these intruders and were thereby able to remain in their own country, at least for a time. Drawing past and present together, Attwood closes this book with the remarkable story of the revival of the Djadja Wurrung in recent times as they have sought to become their own historians.

Genres: History, Australia, Nonfiction

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Bain Attwood is a professor of history at Monash University. He is the author of Empire and the Making of Native Title: Sovereignty, Property and Indigenous People, which compares Britain’s colonies in Australia and New Zealand. He holds both New Zealand and Australian citizenship.

Reviews

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid referencing and unbiased and rigerous analysis of sources, predominantly and understandably one sided as they were. I was born into a farming family and from age 4 to 11 on a farm located on what I had first worked out to be Dja Dja Wurrung territory. So when I saw this at the Clunes Bookfair I had to have it as it promised an opportunity finally to fill the gaps in my knowledge of the other history of where I had come from. What I had been taught over the years had been limited to general colonial history with its many gaps, plus two generations of broadly sketched family history accepted and assimilated without question. That of course was mainly gossip, a certain amount of family mythology polished by years of repitition, farming, domestic history, the agricultural and domestic artifacts and the farm buuldings, and talk of the wars. This book therefore was my chance to fill out the silent side. There are still questions but this is because, as the author states, information about the experiences and lives of the Dja Dja Wurrung is mainly from such sources as settler journals and records, goverment records and other non indigenous sources. The small town (Donald) where I went to school and lived from 12 onwards is Dja Dja Wurrung country but the two farms in which my childhood is based were on a station which according to a map of pastoral runs was actually on the border and within Jardwadjali country - so the search continues as the farm is where my heart lies. Works like this are so important, not only for fleshing out known and trusted history and giving voive to the silenced but also letting those of us who want no more censoring of our history. We need to know who we are and where we rose from too.

[Anne Fenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got to get my own copy of this book. It's very closely detailed account of the history of how the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginals in central Victoria have lived since white settlement. Backed by huge amounts of footnoting, the historian mines many documentary sources to find there is plenty of written evidence of Aboriginal history. I like his approach, taken from Aboriginal views, that their history is not one of destruction but one of adaptation and survival. Of course there's a lot more focus in the former, getting down to 38 surviving members is grim, but he shows the resurgence of identity from the 1980s on. Another interesting and overlooked angle is the tribal nature of Aboriginal life, with each group having separate histories. His concluding analysis of the possibilities of us having 'shared histories' is brilliant.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, we need more written with detail like this one.

[Lakmus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Layman reader.

The thesis is in the epilogue, which mainly boils down to the author talking about the nuances around academic history versus narratives presented as part of Aboriginal rights movement and that maybe there is no need to panic if people tell different histories about places and events for different reasons. His actual stance though is that Aboriginal history is richer and more complex than the usual narrative along the lines "they lived happily before colonisation then Europeans came and messed everything up, on purpose and by accident, and the Aboriginal people are perfect victims".

The preceding chapters lay out the case of a specific place and time, looking at one particular people. As one might expect, on top of the horrific statistics of disease wiping out horrendous numbers of people, the rest is more complex. There was a variety of opinion among settlers, depending on their background and interests -- ranging from "well duh they are stealing your sheep, you scared all the game away and messed up the edible plants" to "kill them all" (interesting that a chunk of settlere were veterans from British colonial wars in other locations. Not surprised that came down badly).

Same with the Djadja Wurrung - some tried to assimilate and adapt, some tried to exist in two worlds, some stuck to tradition, all with varying results. Like you would expect.

It's also interesting to trace the history of reservations back to something well-intentioned and positive and something that in its original form is not dissimilar to modern reconciliation efforts granting land and funds - although more hamfisted and executed with mixed success by people not always well-suited to their position. Empire had HR issues. (But then it devolved into assimilationist paternalism, so).

[MaryG2E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Djadja Wurrung are the traditional owners of the land on which I live. My family have been resident in this area since 1855. I've had a long interest in the history of the area, and read this book to enhance my understanding of what happened during the colonial period.

Professor Bain Attwood is one of the most respected historians in Australia and his work on the issue of Aboriginal displacement with the invasion of British settlers is held in the highest academic regard. His work is carefully researched and meticulously referenced.

The Good Country is primarily an academic textbook, which would no doubt be very useful information for students and researchers. The writing style is very clear and easily understood. However the subject matter is dry and academic in its presentation, and I found it uncomfortable reading.

At a number of spots within the book Attwood takes some of his colleagues to task on particular points of historical interpretation. As a lay person, the arguments were beyond my comprehension.

One of Attwood's key points is that the post-contact history of the Djadja Wurrung is not one of complete tragedy. He makes the point that, despite the appalling predations of the white settlers, Djadja Wurrung survived, albeit in reduced numbers and straightened circumstances.

I had to pause my reading of the text a few times, through grief and/or anger at the vile and brutal acts and words of those selfish, greedy British invaders. The collusion of the legal profession and the colonial newspapers and commentators beggars belief. The survival of the Djadja Wurrung in the face of such dire conditions is to be celebrated. Attwood's book is a worthy tribute to their resilience.

[Galena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be included in school curriculums in Victoria. Bain Attwood's referenced work is a powerful, unemotional revelation of a time in history most conveniently forget, or about which they remain uninformed. For residents in the Daylesford, Kyneton, Ballarat, Bendigo region of Victoria, Dja Dja Wurrung country, this book is a must read.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written book with detailed evidence on the relationship between the Djadja Wurrung and European colonisers - very interesting to learn of the variety of opinions and relationships that existed in 19th century Victoria.