113-403: Carl Adolph Feilberg (21 August 1844 – 25 October 1887), also spelt Carl Adolf Feilberg , was a Danish-born Australian journalist, newspaper editor, general political commentator, and Indigenous rights activist. He lived and worked mainly in the colony of Queensland , and in his editorials and columns criticised many aspects of the colonial government policy towards Aboriginal Australians in
226-478: A Royal Commission and a change of policy. Despite being unsuccessful, his campaign triggered two large parliamentary debates and the biggest public debate of its kind ever conducted by an Australian newspaper on this subject. Feilberg outlined some of his deeper feelings in an editorial printed in the Queenslander on 19 January 1878, saying amongst other things that the "...complacent blindness which induces
339-405: A humpy , gunyah, or wurley. Clothing included the possum-skin cloak in the southeast, buka cloak in the southwest and riji (pearl shells) in the northeast. There is evidence that some Aboriginal populations in northern Australia regularly traded with Makassan fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans. At the time of first European contact, it is generally estimated that
452-421: A career in journalism, initially assisting Ebenezer Thorne on his newly launched three-weekly Wide Bay and Burnett News . In November 1870, after a series of libel cases and family issues, Thorne sold his share in the journal to Feilberg, who became the sole editor and proprietor. Feilberg as editor supported the struggle for manhood suffrage, his success in breaking the press monopoly of William Henry Walsh . He
565-603: A chance for survival. He arrived in Sydney from London on the Aberdeen vessel Sir John Lawrence on 18 June 1867, travelling onto Rockhampton carrying a letter of introduction to Archibald Berdmore Buchanan , a Scottish squatter . He then gained "colonial experience", working as a shepherd, store and bookkeeper, predominantly at Buchanan's properties. The first six months at Cardbeign station in Springsure district,
678-499: A close personal friend, Walter John Morley, editor-in-chief of the Brisbane Evening Observer , wrote about Feilberg that he was "a man whom it was impossible to regard with indifference", adding that Feilberg, "in his working days", was ... one of the most voluminous and valued of Australian writers... As a Press writer Mr. Feilberg was without a rival in the colony, and had few equals on the continent. His style
791-625: A consequence, Australian South Sea Islanders have faced forms of discrimination similar to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. After 1994, the Australian South Sea Islander community was recognised as a unique minority group, following a report by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission , which found they had become more disadvantaged than indigenous Australians. Canadian Kanakas were all Hawaiian in origin. They had been aboard
904-777: A crucial behind the scene role in the British Government move to nullify Queensland's unilateral annexation of New Guinea in April 1883. It was actively used by Sir Arthur Gordon , the Aborigines Protection Society , and others, as evidence to persuade the British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his Secretary of State for the Colonies , Lord Derby , that Queensland was utterly unfit for
1017-428: A heart that overflowed with all that makes humanity noble and good. He never saw distress without wishing to relieve it... Francis Adams , poet and socialist activist, wrote: He was a soldier in the army of Letters and of light of whom his comrades can be proud. He fixed his eyes on the abiding truth of human life – on justice and on mercy, on trust and on love – and clung to them. He felt, as so many of us feel, that
1130-559: A land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during the last glacial period . Estimates of the population of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania, before European arrival, are in the range of 3,000 to 15,000 people. However, genetic studies have suggested significantly higher figures, which are supported by Indigenous oral traditions that indicate a decline in population from diseases introduced by British and American sealers before settlement. The original population
1243-619: A part of the life of company forts. A great many were contracted to the Hudson's Bay Company while some had arrived in the area as ship's hands. In other instances, they migrated north from California. The Kanaka Rancherie was a settlement of Native Hawaiian migrant workers in Vancouver. Many Kanaka men married First Nations women, and their descendants can still be found in British Columbia and neighbouring parts of Canada, and
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#17327731026141356-687: A single founding Sahul group with subsequent isolation between regional populations which were relatively unaffected by later migrations from the Asian mainland, which may have introduced the dingo 4–5,000 years ago. The research also suggests a divergence from the Papuan people of New Guinea and the Mamanwa people of the Philippines about 32,000 years ago, with a rapid population expansion about 5,000 years ago. A 2011 genetic study found evidence that
1469-784: A small adventure novel, A Strange Exploring Trip , which some contemporaries viewed as having a curious resemblance with Henry Rider Haggard 's later King Solomon's Mines (from 1885). He used personal experiences in several of his stories from the outer Barcoo and early Rockhampton in the late 1860s, and from Cooktown and the Palmer gold field in the 1870s. His short stories were very popular in his own time. Some of these sketches and stories were signed "CF", but several were not signed at all, his authorship being revealed in writings by various contemporaries. These works include: Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of,
1582-631: A time when changes in tool technology and food processing appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related. Mallick et al. 2016 and Mark Lipson et al. 2017 study found that the bifurcation of Eastern Eurasian and Western Eurasian dates back to least 45,000 years ago, with Australasians nested inside the Eastern Eurasian clade. Aboriginal Australian men have Haplogroup C-M347 in high frequencies with peak estimates ranging from 60.2% to 68.7%. In addition,
1695-665: Is complex and multi-layered, but a few examples are Anangu in northern South Australia , and neighbouring parts of Western Australia and Northern Territory ; Arrernte in central Australia; Koori (or Koorie) in New South Wales and Victoria ( Aboriginal Victorians ); Goorie (variant pronunciation and spelling of Koori) in South East Queensland and some parts of northern New South Wales; Murri , used in parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales where specific collective names are not used; Tiwi people of
1808-558: Is equally cited in the highly profiled Bringing Them Home (1997), which reported on the Stolen Generations (Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families to be brought up in institutions during the twentieth century), and in Ben Kiernan 's Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination (2008). William Henry Traill , journalist and Feilberg's predecessor as editor of The Queenslander , who
1921-546: Is estimated that people migrated from the Indonesian archipelago and New Guinea to mainland Australia about 70,000 years ago, as of 2020 evidence of human settlement in the Torres Strait has only been uncovered by archaeologists dating back to about 2500 years ago. Aboriginal people in some regions lived as foragers and hunter-gatherers , hunting and foraging for food from the land. Although Aboriginal society
2034-564: Is fated to encounter". He was sub-editor on The Argus from June 1882 to June 1883, and then returned to Brisbane to became editor-in-chief of the Brisbane Courier and The Queenslander from September 1883 to October 1887. Feilberg authored a great number of articles on the issue of human rights abuses towards Pacific Islanders and Indigenous people in Queensland. The issue of the so-called Kanaka trade or blackbirding –
2147-597: Is not for me to gush about his virtues. He was my mate, and I always found him "white." I first met him in Maryborough, when he had just come back from the Barcoo, where he had been jackarooing . Some of the best yarns that ever appeared in Punch and Figaro I learned from Carl Feilberg... After much of his most controversial work had conveniently forgotten about in the generations to follow, subsequent research has shown that
2260-624: Is now avoided outside of its historical context, as it has been used as an offensive term. According to the Macquarie Dictionary , the word "kanaka", which was once widely used in Australia, is now regarded in Australian English as an offensive term for a Pacific Islander. Most "Kanakas" in Australia were people from Melanesia , rather than Polynesia . The descendants of 19th century immigrants to Australia from
2373-464: Is now estimated that all but 13 remaining Indigenous languages are considered endangered. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). Around three quarters of Australian place names are of Aboriginal origin. The Indigenous population prior to European settlement
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#17327731026142486-481: Is required. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave during the Initial Upper Paleolithic , and are most closely related to other Oceanians , such as Melanesians . The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other Australasian populations, such as Negritos or Ancient Ancestral South Indians groups, such as
2599-625: Is sometimes used as part of a wider social movement (seen in terms such as " Blaktivism " and "Blak History Month" ). The term was coined in 1991 by photographer and multimedia artist Destiny Deacon , in an exhibition entitled Blak lik mi . For Deacon's 2004 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art , blak was defined in a museum guide as: "a term used by some Aboriginal people to reclaim historical, representational, symbolical, stereotypical and romanticised notions of Black or Blackness. Often used as ammunition or inspiration." Deacon said that removing
2712-516: Is unlikely as the Indigenous custodians are not expected to allow further invasive investigations. It is generally believed that Aboriginal people are the descendants of a single migration into the continent, a people that split from the ancestors of East Asians. Recent work with mitochondrial DNA suggests a founder population of between 1,000 and 3,000 women to produce the genetic diversity observed, which suggests that "initial colonisation of
2825-714: The Brisbane Courier and its weekly The Queenslander between 1874 and 1886 were authored by Feilberg. Additionally he conducted two lengthy campaigns, one in the Queensland Patriot in 1878 and the other and most notable in The Queenslander in 1880, both of them (but the latter, in particular), triggering significant public and parliamentary debates centred around the issue of the colony's Native Police Force and frontier Indigenous policy. Feilberg's 1880 pamphlet, The Way We Civilise , played
2938-721: The Andamanese people , as well as to East Asian peoples . Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern non-African (ENA) or East-Eurasian meta-population trifurcated, and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), the Ancient Ancestral South Indians, Andamanese and the East/Southeast Asian lineage including the ancestors of Native Americans , although Papuans may have also received some geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, around 2%, next to additional archaic admixture in
3051-675: The Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag have been official flags of Australia . The time of arrival of the first human beings in Australia is a matter of debate and ongoing investigation. The earliest conclusively human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady , which have been dated to around 40,000 years ago, although Indigenous Australians have most likely been living in Australia for upwards of 65,000 years. Isolated for millennia by rising sea water after
3164-560: The Cooktown Courier from September 1876 to June 1877. He was a Hansard shorthand writer from July to October 1877, and part-proprietor and editor of the Queensland Patriot / Daily News from March 1878 to early January 1879. After leaving Maryborough, he was employed by the Brisbane Courier as a political commentator , leader writer, and as editor of The Queenslander , from January 1879 to December 1880. In
3277-500: The Latin ab (from) and origo (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia as early as 1789 to describe its Aboriginal peoples . It became capitalised and was used as the common term to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Today the latter peoples are not included in this term. The term "Aborigine" (as opposed to "Aboriginal") is often disfavoured, as it is regarded as having colonialist connotations. While
3390-616: The Pila Nguru of Western Australia ). Several settlements of humans in Australia have been dated around 49,000 years ago. Luminescence dating of sediments surrounding stone artefacts at Madjedbebe , a rock shelter in northern Australia, indicates human activity at 65,000 years BP. Genetic studies appear to support an arrival date of 50–70,000 years ago. The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia (and outside of Africa) are those of Mungo Man ; they have been dated at 42,000 years old. The initial comparison of
3503-531: The Queensland Patriot campaign was reused, commissioned by the managing editor of the Brisbane Newspaper Company , Gresley Lukin , on a much larger scale in the Brisbane Courier (the leading Queensland journal; now The Courier-Mail ) two years later. In the nine months from during March to December 1880 Feilberg utilised its weekly, The Queenslander , as a platform to launch a series of powerfully-worded editorials and articles demanding
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3616-690: The Russian American Company in 1817, with others to follow. By the 1820s, Kanakas were employed in the kitchen and other skilled trades by the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver , mostly living south and west of the main palisade in an area known as "Kanaka Village." Kanakas, employed in agriculture and ranching, were present in the mainland United States as early as 1834, primarily in California under Spanish colonial rule, and later under American company contracts. ( Richard Henry Dana refers often to Kanaka workers and sailors on
3729-539: The Sahul region. Rasmussen et al. 2011 shows that Aboriginal Australian have a lower proportion of European alleles compared to Asians, which they believe is indicative of a multiple dispersal model. Genetically, while Aboriginal Australians are most closely related to Melanesian and Papuan people, McEvoy et al. 2010 believed there is also another component that could indicate Ancient Ancestral South Indian admixture or more recent European influence. Research indicates
3842-474: The Tasmanian catastrophe genocide". A woman named Trugernanner (often rendered as Truganini ), who died in 1876, was, and still is, widely believed to be the last of the "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal people. However, in 1889 Parliament recognised Fanny Cochrane Smith (d. 1905) as the last surviving "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal person. The 2016 census reported 23,572 Indigenous Australians in
3955-924: The Tiwi Islands off Northern Territory; and Palawah in Tasmania . The largest Aboriginal communities – the Pitjantjatjara , the Arrernte, the Luritja , and the Warlpiri – are all from Central Australia . Throughout the history of the continent, there have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with its own individual language , culture, and belief structure. At the time of British settlement, there were over 200 distinct languages. The Tasmanian Aboriginal population are thought to have first crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via
4068-767: The Velocity , a vessel under the command of Captain Kirsopp and chartered by Benjamin Boyd . Boyd was a Scottish colonist who wanted cheap labourers to work at his expansive pastoral leaseholds in the colony of New South Wales . He financed two more procurements of South Sea Islanders, 70 of which arrived in Sydney in September 1847, and another 57 in October of that same year. Many of these Islanders soon absconded from their workplaces and were observed starving and destitute on
4181-716: The White Australia policy , ordained the deportation of all post-1879 arrivals to the Solomon Islands or the New Hebrides, where "neither property, nor rights, nor welcome awaited them". Antonius Tua Tonga, a Kanaka who had lived in Queensland since the age of four, petitioned the King of England for a mitigation of the legislation, but the Australian prime minister, Alfred Deakin , advised the British government
4294-573: The c from black to "de-weaponise the term 'black cunt ' " was "taking on the 'colonisers' language and flipping it on its head". Contemporary Aboriginal arts in the 21st century are sometimes referred to as a "Blak" arts movement, expressed in names such as BlakDance, BlakLash Collective, and the title of Thelma Plum 's song and album, Better in Blak . Melbourne has an annual Blak & Bright literary festival, Blak Dot Gallery, Blak Markets, and Blak Cabaret. Aboriginal peoples of Australia are
4407-435: The didgeridoo . Although there are a number of cultural commonalities among Indigenous Australians, there is also a great diversity among different communities. The 2022 Australian census recorded 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages used at home by some 76,978 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At the time of European colonisation, it is estimated that there were over 250 Aboriginal languages . It
4520-519: The language group (such as Arrernte ), or demonym relating to geographic area (such as Nunga ), is considered best practice and most respectful. European colonials from their early settlement used the term "Black" to refer to Aboriginal Australians. While the term originally related to skin colour and was often used pejoratively, today the term is used to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general. It refers to any people of such heritage regardless of their level of skin pigmentation. In
4633-409: The message stick . Weapons included boomerangs , spears (sometimes thrown with a woomera ) with stone or fishbone tips, clubs, and (less commonly) axes. The Stone Age tools available included knives with ground edges, grinding devices, and eating containers. Fibrecraft was well-developed, and fibre nets, baskets, and bags were used for fishing, hunting, and carrying liquids. Trade networks spanned
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4746-403: The mitochondrial DNA from the skeleton known as Lake Mungo 3 (LM3) with that of ancient and modern Aboriginal peoples indicated that Mungo Man is not related to Australian Aboriginal peoples. However, these findings have been met with a general lack of acceptance in scientific communities. The sequence has been criticised as there has been no independent testing, and it has been suggested that
4859-439: The "final 2021 Census-based estimated resident population". Of these, 91.7% identified as Aboriginal; 4.0% identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.3% identified with both groups. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or the person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common. Since 1995,
4972-630: The 1970s, with a rise in Aboriginal activism, leaders such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term "Black". For example, writer Kevin Gilbert 's book of that time was entitled Living Black . The book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community, including Robert Jabanungga , who reflected on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Use of this term varies depending on context, and its use needs care as it may be deemed inappropriate. The term "Black" has sometimes caused confusion as being applied to contemporary African immigrants rather than
5085-647: The 19th and early 20th centuries. They also worked in California (United States) and Chile (see also Easter Island and the Rapa Nui ). "Kanaka" originally referred only to Native Hawaiians , from their own name for themselves, kānaka ʻōiwi or kānaka maoli , kānaka meaning "man" in the Hawaiian language . In the Americas in particular, native Hawaiians were the majority; but Kanakas in Australia were almost entirely Melanesian. In Australian English "kanaka"
5198-474: The 2021 Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these Indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups. However, the Government has stated that as of 30 June 2021, there are 983,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total population of Australia, as
5311-460: The 21st century there is consensus that it is important to respect the "preferences of individuals, families, or communities, and allow them to define what they are most comfortable with" when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The word ' aboriginal ' has been in the English language since at least the 16th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from
5424-507: The Aboriginal population. Nevertheless, a population collapse, principally from new infectious diseases, followed European colonisation. A smallpox epidemic spread for three years after the arrival of Europeans. Massacres , frontier armed conflicts and competition over resources with European settlers also contributed to the decline of the Aboriginal peoples. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, government policy removed many mixed heritage children from Aboriginal communities, with
5537-606: The Aboriginal, Papuan and Mamanwa peoples carry some of the alleles associated with the Denisovan peoples of Asia, (not found amongst populations in mainland Asia) suggesting that modern and archaic humans interbred in Asia approximately 44,000 years ago, before Australia separated from New Guinea and the migration to Australia. A 2012 paper reports that there is also evidence of a substantial genetic flow from India to northern Australia estimated at slightly over four thousand years ago,
5650-587: The Californian coast in his book Two Years Before the Mast ). The migration of Kanakas peaked between 1900 and 1930, and most of their families soon blended by intermarriage into the Chinese , Filipino , and more numerous Mexican populations with whom they came in contact. At one point, Native Hawaiians harvested sugar beets and picked apples in the states of Washington and Oregon . The Kanakas have left
5763-707: The Hawaiian Kanaka . The first native workers from the Hawaiian Islands (called the "Sandwich Islands" at the time) arrived on the Tonquin in 1811 to clear the site and help build Fort Astoria , as undertaken by the Pacific Fur Company . Nearly 12 Kanakas or a third of the workforce wintered over among "Astorians". Kanakas built Fort Elizabeth on the island of Kauai in Hawaii for
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#17327731026145876-549: The Kanaka labour-trade; issues which were clearly viewed as more acceptable by early nineteenth-century Australian historians and record keepers. Yet Feilberg's commitment to human rights was hinted at in various ways by some of his obituary writers and close friends. Feilberg is one of the most notable and frequently cited advocate of Indigenous human rights in the history of colonial Queensland. Almost all Indigenous policy critical articles, editorial comments and editorials printed in
5989-590: The Murray. There is some evidence that, before outside contact, some groups of Aboriginal Australians had a complex subsistence system with elements of agriculture, that was only recorded by the first European explorers. One early settler took notes on the life styles of the Wathaurung people whom he lived near in Victoria. He saw women harvesting Murnong tubers, a native yam that is now almost extinct. However,
6102-696: The Pacific Islands now generally refer to themselves as " South Sea Islanders ", and this is also the term used in formal and official situations. Most of the original labourers were recruited or blackbirded (kidnapped or deceived) from the Solomon Islands , New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and New Caledonia , with others from the Loyalty Islands . The first shipload of 65 Melanesian labourers arrived in Boyd Town on 16 April 1847 on board
6215-761: The United States (particularly in the states of Washington and Oregon ). Kanaka Creek, British Columbia , was a community of mixed Hawaiian-First families established across the Fraser River from Fort Langley in the 1830s, which remains on the map today. Kanakas were active in both the California Gold Rush , and in the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and other rushes. Kanaka Bar, British Columbia gets its name from claims staked and worked by Kanakas who had previously worked for
6328-438: The area that they were harvesting from was already cleared of other plants, making it easier to harvest Murnong (also known as yam daisy) exclusively. Along the northern coast of Australia, parsnip yams were harvested by leaving the bottom part of the yam still stuck in the ground so that it would grow again in the same spot. Similar to many other farmers in the world, Aboriginal peoples used slash and burn techniques to enrich
6441-601: The basal form K2* (K-M526) of the extremely ancient Haplogroup K2 – whose subclades Haplogroup R , haplogroup Q , haplogroup M and haplogroup S can be found in the majority of Europeans, Northern South Asians, Native Americans and the Indigenous peoples of Oceania – has only been found in living humans today amongst Aboriginal Australians. 27% of them may carry K2* and approximately 29% of Aboriginal Australian males belong to subclades of K2b1 , a.k.a. M and S . Aboriginal Australians possess deep rooted clades of both mtDNA Haplogroup M and Haplogroup N . Although it
6554-462: The campaign of The Queenslander in 1880 subsequently caused Feilberg to accept a position as sub-editor on the then leading Victorian journal The Argus , based in Melbourne , in June 1882. It was noted in the contemporary press that Feilberg "has had very definite political opinions, and, in labouring unremittingly to impress them upon the public mind, has suffered at various times from the misrepresentation and obloquy which every active politician
6667-455: The caprice of the white men. The least show of resistance is answered by a rifle bullet; in fact, the first introduction between blacks and whites is often marked by the unprovoked murder of some of the former – in order to make a commencement of the work of "civilising" them. His pamphlet The Way We Civilise: Black and White: The Native Police (published in Brisbane, December 1880), which was characterised by historian Henry Reynolds as "one of
6780-418: The colony, in particular the use of the Native Police . After a major campaign in The Queenslander in 1880 and the publication of a pamphlet titled The Way We Civilise: Black and White: The Native Police , he suffered personal and political fallout, and had to move to Melbourne for some time. After becoming ill there and moving back to Brisbane , he died at the age of 43. Although widely cited, his work
6893-554: The continent would have required deliberate organised sea travel, involving hundreds of people". Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna . Some evidence from the analysis of charcoal and artefacts revealing human use suggests a date as early as 65,000 BP. Luminescence dating has suggested habitation in Arnhem Land as far back as 60,000 years BP. Evidence of fires in South-West Victoria suggest "human presence in Australia 120,000 years ago", although more research
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#17327731026147006-407: The continent, and transportation included canoes . Shelters varied regionally, and included wiltjas in the Atherton Tablelands , paperbark and stringybark sheets and raised platforms in Arnhem Land , whalebone huts in what is now South Australia, stone shelters in what is now western Victoria, and a multi-room pole and bark structure found in Corranderrk . A bark tent or lean-to is known as
7119-492: The daughter of a planter on the island of St. Croix in the then Danish West Indies . Following the early death of both parents, Feilberg was placed in foster care with Danish relatives, his aunt Louise Stegman (née Brummer) and her husband greengrocer Conrad Stegmann, at the time living in Edinburgh , Scotland. Feilberg received his formal education in Scotland , followed by a year at a college in Saint-Omer in France. After graduation he moved to Lincolnshire , England, and
7232-575: The distinctiveness and importance of Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's Indigenous population. Eddie Mabo was from "Mer" or Murray Island in the Torres Strait. He was a party in the Mabo decision of 1992. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also sometimes refer to themselves by descriptions that relate to their ecological environment, such as saltwater people for coast-dwellers (including Torres Strait Islander people ), freshwater people , rainforest people , desert people , or spinifex people , (the latter referring to
7345-400: The first exploration and trading ships to reach the Pacific Northwest Coast . There were cases of Kanakas jumping ship then living amongst various First Nations peoples. The first Kanakas to settle came from Fort Vancouver after clearing the original Fort Langley site and building the palisade (1827). They were often assigned to the fur brigades and Express of the fur companies and were
7458-537: The following manner: This, in plain language, is how we deal with the aborigines: On occupying new territory the aboriginal inhabitants are treated exactly in the same way as the wild beasts or birds the settlers may find there. Their lives and their property, the nets, canoes, and weapons which represent as much labour to them as the stock and buildings of the white settler, are held by the Europeans as being at their absolute disposal. Their goods are taken, their children forcibly stolen, their women carried away, entirely at
7571-402: The fur company (which today is a First Nations community of the Nlakaʼpamux people). There were no negative connotations in the use of Kanaka in British Columbian and Californian English of the time, and in its most usual sense today, it denotes someone of Hawaiian ethnic inheritance, without any pejorative meaning. One linguist holds that Canuck , a nickname for Canadians, is derived from
7684-504: The generations after colonisation. The word "community" is often used to describe groups identifying by kinship , language , or belonging to a particular place or "country". A community may draw on separate cultural values and individuals can conceivably belong to a number of communities within Australia; identification within them may be adopted or rejected. An individual community may identify itself by many names, each of which can have alternative English spellings. The naming of peoples
7797-495: The government to reform and move to protect the fundamental rights of Indigenous people. The memory of this crucial part of Feilberg's writings, however, was to remain victim to the "veil of silence" which covered all issues related to the treatment of Indigenous people in the colonial era for the most part of a century. To the extent Feilberg's name was remembered at all, it was for his advocacy of some restrictions being put on Chinese immigration and for him being an early opponent of
7910-425: The indigenous peoples. Living Black is an Australian TV news and current affairs program covering "issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians". It is presented and produced by Karla Grant , an Arrernte woman. A significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use the term " Blackfella " and its associated forms to refer to Aboriginal Australians. The term blak
8023-449: The intent to assimilate them to what had become the majority white culture. Such policy was judged " genocidal " in the Bringing Them Home report (1997) published by the government in the late 20th century, as it reviewed human rights abuses during colonisation. There are a number of contemporary appropriate terms to use when referring to Indigenous peoples of Australia. In contrast to when settlers referred to them by various terms, in
8136-497: The interior and railway schemes supporting this; he questioned the uncontrolled Chinese immigration (during the great mining rush in the far north); and he was a strong advocate of laws to combat the threat to the environment of uncontrolled logging and deforestation , and securing a policy of sustainable foresting. He was freelance correspondent and occasional editorial writer for the Brisbane Courier its weekly, The Queenslander , as well as for other journals, and also editor of
8249-645: The last 500 years. The population was split into 250 individual nations, many of which were in alliance with one another, and within each nation there existed separate, often related clans , from as few as 5 or 6 to as many as 30 or 40. Each nation had its own language, and a few had several. Kanaka (Pacific Island worker) Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and involuntary ) from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies , such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji , Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Papua New Guinea , and Queensland (Australia) in
8362-449: The last Ice Age, Australian Aboriginal peoples developed a variety of regional cultures and languages, invented distinct artistic and religious traditions, and affected the environment of the continent in a number of ways through hunting, fire-stick farming , and possibly the introduction of the dog . Technologies for warfare and hunting like the boomerang and spear were constructed of natural materials, as were musical instruments like
8475-451: The more inclusive term "Indigenous Australians". Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify fully as Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands, which were annexed by Queensland in 1879. Many Indigenous organisations incorporate the phrase "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" to highlight
8588-527: The most influential political tracts in Australian history", was a collection of articles and letters formerly published in The Queenslander . Feilberg also wrote many short stories and sketches reflecting the life and dreams of many of his fellow colonists. He served several terms as president for Brisbane's famed literary Johnsonian Club . Other chairmen over time were noted Queenslanders such as jurist Sir Samuel Griffith , politician John Douglas , poet James Brunton Stephens , and journalist William Senior
8701-548: The natives of Europe to regard their own customs and institutions as excellent above compare, and their adoption as a certain remedy and advantageous substitute for all other manners of living, even to the most simple and Arcadian, has served as excuse for enormities at the contemplation of which humanity revolts...". His opening lines to the campaign of the Queenslander on 1 May 1880, in his best known and most frequently cited editorial headed The Way We Civilise , it famously outlined Queensland's policy towards Aboriginal people in
8814-461: The nine months from during March to December 1880 Feilberg utilised The Queenslander as a platform to launch a series of powerfully-worded editorials and articles demanding a Royal Commission and a change of policy with regard to Indigenous Australians . Although unsuccessful, he managed to trigger two large parliamentary debates, as well as the biggest public debate of its kind ever conducted by an Australian newspaper, on this subject. A change in
8927-438: The nutrients of their soil. However, sheep and cattle later brought over by Europeans would ruin this soil by trampling on it. To add on the complexity of Aboriginal farming techniques, farmers deliberately exchanged seeds to begin growing plants where they did not naturally occur. In fact there were so many examples of Aboriginal Australians managing farm land in a complex manner that Australian Anthropologist, Dr. Norman Tindale
9040-525: The old symbols see no new ones in the world of thought and feeling of his time. "Bobby" Byrne, or John Edgar Byrne , a Londoner turned bushman and pioneer during the Gulf country rush in the 1860s, later journalist and owner-editor of the Queensland Figaro and Punch , simply stated: Carl was a mate of mine of some 16 years' standing. The Brisbane dailies supply full particulars of his life, and it
9153-687: The period 1875 – February 1878, intensively from January 1879– January 1881 & July 1883– September 1887) and Melbourne Argus (Brisbane correspondent from 1880 to 1882, sub-editor on amongst others the subject of Queensland & New Guinea from July 1882 – June 1883). He was the author behind the parliamentary column of the "Political Froth" by "the Abstainer" and the column "Specialities" in The Queenslander from January 1879 – to May 1882, and political commentaries such as "The future of North-Eastern Australia". In his spare time Feilberg wrote fiction and several sketches, romantic short stories, and also
9266-549: The petition was a front for planters, and the deportations took place largely as intended. A legislative amendment in 1905 exempted those of "extreme age", those married to whites, and freeholders. The prime minister, Alfred Deakin, declined to exempt those schooled in Australia. The descendants of those who avoided deportation today form Australia's largest Melano-Polynesian ethnic group. Many Australian South Sea Islanders are also of mixed ancestry, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders , for whom they are often mistaken. As
9379-441: The pre-1788 population was 314,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 500,000 to 750,000 could have been sustained, with some ecologists estimating that a population of up to a million or even two million people was possible. More recent work suggests that Aboriginal populations exceeded 1.2 million 500 years ago, but may have fallen somewhat with the introduction of disease pathogens from Eurasia in
9492-547: The principal shorthand writer also known as "Red Spinner". The latter three in particular were known to be close friends of Feilberg. The Liberal Premier John Douglas appointed Feilberg as government envoy for New Guinea during the New Guinea gold rush in early 1878, and New Guinea was later a frequent subject for his numerous editorials, including in The Argus , the Brisbane Courier , and The Times ( London ). He
9605-623: The proprietorship of the Brisbane Newspaper Company in late December 1880 caused Feilberg to endure a year of being gradually relegated to steadily more subordinate positions on the journal. On 23 September 1882, in a private letter in reply to Sir Arthur Gordon , the former Governor and High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, Feilberg wrote: "I despair of doing much good for the blacks, and I have incurred enough personal ill-will myself by writing on their behalf during my residence in Queensland". The personal and political fallout following
9718-455: The public, he never wrote himself out, and his style was always fresh and free from any touch of respective sameness...Poor Feilberg! There were two subjects on which one could always rouse his righteous indignation – the treatment of the blacks, and the seizure of the Danish fleet by Nelson; his love of fair play was too strongly appealed to in both. Somewhat a political opponent, yet nonetheless
9831-664: The remaining time in the Barcoo district on Greendale and possibly other stations in the central west. The knowledge he gained in the outback , including his experiences with the Native Police and the darker sides of the colony's frontier policies, would later influence his work as a journalist, political commentator, and author. After being naturalised at Rockhampton Court House on 21 June 1870, Feilberg chose to settle in Maryborough , where in August 1870 he commenced
9944-618: The results may be due to posthumous modification and thermal degradation of the DNA. Although the contested results seem to indicate that Mungo Man may have been an extinct subspecies that diverged before the most recent common ancestor of contemporary humans, the administrative body for the Mungo National Park believes that present-day local Aboriginal peoples are descended from the Lake Mungo remains. Independent DNA testing
10057-582: The rights of Aboriginal Australians , critical of the Queensland Government's policies. The first was in 1878, when he was editor of the Queensland Patriot . This angered John Douglas , then Premier of Queensland , as well as other co-proprietors of the paper, although the Patriot was an independent liberal journal. The move was daring but ultimately unsuccessful, although it triggered a parliamentary debate on 10 July 1878. The blueprint for
10170-486: The scale of killings of Aboriginal people in what has subsequently been dubbed the Australian frontier wars was far greater than commonly reported, with some researchers suggesting that around 60,000 lives were taken in Queensland alone. Historian Henry Reynolds in particular has played a big part in publicising Feilberg's work. Feilberg started gaining more recognition for his work in the 21st century, and in 2018 he
10283-411: The state of Tasmania. The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea , and speak a Papuan language . Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians". This has been another factor in the promotion of
10396-740: The streets of Sydney. After the report of the alleged murder of the Native Chief of the Island of Rotumah in 1848, a closed-door enquiry was held, choosing not to take any action against Boyd or Kirsopp. The experiment of utilising Melanesian labour was discontinued in Australia until Robert Towns recommenced the practice in the early 1860s. After 1863, more than 62,000 Islanders were brought to Australia; in 1901, about 10,000 were living in Queensland and northern New South Wales . The Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 , legislation complementing
10509-412: The task of ruling New Guinea. Feilberg's pamphlet and opponents of the views expressed in it are frequently cited in many books, articles, studies, and documentaries up to the present day. The satirical title The Way We Civilise was eventually re-used in 1997 as a title for Rosalind Kidd's study on Queensland's institutionalised policy towards Aboriginal people from the 1880s onwards. Feilberg's pamphlet
10622-498: The term "Indigenous Australians" has grown in popularity since the 1980s, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples dislike it. They feel that it is too generic and removes their distinct clan and people identity. However, many people think that the term is useful and convenient, and can be used where appropriate. In recent years, terms such as "First Nations", "First Peoples" and "First Australians" have become more common. Being as specific as possible, for example naming
10735-484: The use of Melanesian labour on Queensland sugar plantations – was high on his agenda from the late 1870 onwards; he and his journal were instrumental in bringing about the conviction of the captain of the recruiting schooner Jason in 1871. Feilberg's contribution to the history of colonial Queensland , included editorials written for the Brisbane Courier from 1874 to 1878, and later in the Cooktown Courier during January to March 1877. Feilberg ran two campaigns for
10848-690: The various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation . They consist of two distinct groups, which include many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania , and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea , located in Melanesia . 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in
10961-497: The various peoples indigenous to mainland Australia and associated islands, excluding the Torres Strait Islands. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that may be identified under names based on local language, locality, or what they are called by neighbouring groups. Some communities, cultures or groups may be inclusive of others and alter or overlap; significant changes have occurred in
11074-612: Was able to draw an Aboriginal grain belt, detailing the specific areas where crops were once produced. In terms of aquaculture, explorer Thomas Mitchell noted large stone fish traps on the Darling River at Brewarrina. Each trap covers a pool, herding fish through a small entrance that would later be shut. Traps were created at different heights to accommodate different water levels during floods and droughts. Technology used by Indigenous Australian societies before European contact included weapons, tools, shelters, watercraft, and
11187-444: Was attended by a wide range of friends, journalists and several high-ranking politicians from both sides of Queensland politics, including the former Premier, Sir Thomas McIlwraith . A eulogy was authored by poet Francis Adams . Feilberg was arguably the most prominent political commentator and newspaper editor in Queensland in his time, but he was certainly equally well known in the other Australian colonies. His death in October 1887
11300-421: Was clear, crisp, and trenchant, and withal somewhat cynical; he could detect at once the weak spot of an argument, and understood thoroughly the worth of ridicule and the power of satire. His writings exhibit a perfect knowledge of the country, and of country life, and betray a sympathy with human nature for which those who saw only his other writings would never credit him... His views were naturally extreme, for he
11413-456: Was further reduced to around 300 between 1803 and 1833 due to disease, warfare, and other actions of British settlers. Despite more than 170 years of debate over who or what was responsible for this near-extinction, no consensus exists on its origins, process, or whether or not it was genocide. However, according to Benjamin Madley, using the "UN definition, sufficient evidence exists to designate
11526-533: Was generally mobile, or semi-nomadic , moving according to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the River Murray valley in particular. Canoes were made out of bark for use on
11639-544: Was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame . Feilberg's main strength was his work as a political commentator and leader-writer, for, among others, the Wide Bay and Burnett News (c. October 1870 to 1875), Cooktown Courier (from September 1876 to June 1877), the Queensland Patriot (from February 1878 to January 1879), The Brisbane Courier and its weekly The Queenslander (sporadically in
11752-404: Was intense, as such men always are, and this extremeness, with the vigour of his enunciation, caused him to make many and bitter enemies. Probably there were few men in the colony more bitterly hated by political and social opponents, yet there was certainly no man more beloved by those whose privilege it was to know him intimately. For underneath all his cynicism and his apparent vindictiveness beat
11865-529: Was later the editor of The Sydney Mail , owner-editor of the famed weekly magazine The Bulletin and a NSW politician, was the only one of Feilberg's friends who dared to mention Feilberg's feelings on the question of Indigenous rights (possibly because Traill was living in Sydney at the time), saying: As a journalist he was an untiring worker, few newspapers in Australia have not been benefited by his pen, and few writers on all subjects were more appreciated by
11978-497: Was not lauded for most of a century after his death, but towards the 21st century, his reputation as a journalist and historian has been recognised. He also wrote short stories , novellas , and a novel. Carl Feilberg was born on 21 August 1844 in a small apartment at 1 Bredgade in Copenhagen , Denmark. He was the first born and only son of Danish Royal Navy lieutenant Christen Schifter Feilberg and Louise Adelaide Feilberg,
12091-418: Was of the opinion New Guinea should be made a British protectorate , as if another power colonised it, it could pose a security risk to Australia in the future. He "was never physically a robust man", as one obituary stated. The illness that brought him to Australia in the first place remained dormant and the move to Melbourne proved fatal for him. What started out as a cold was to revive his old ailment and he
12204-517: Was owner-editor of the Wide Bay and Burnett News from November 1870 to about 1875. Feilberg's journalism covered a wide range of subjects, in which parliamentary business, railway and settlement policy, finance and economic policy, and Indigenous rights took a prominent position. Beyond being additionally a harsh critic of the Kanaka ( blackbirding ) trade, he was an eager advocate for settlements in
12317-526: Was quite ill by mid-1883. He gave in to an offer and returned to Brisbane in July to take on the position of editor-in-chief of the Brisbane Newspaper Company ( Brisbane Courier ) in September same year. He remained fully active in this position until a few weeks before his death. He died at his home "Claraville" in Cordelia Street, South Brisbane , on 25 October 1887. The immediate cause of death
12430-410: Was received with an amount of strongly worded obituaries and expressions of grief, which was to remain extraordinary as well as unprecedented for any Queensland journalist of his era. His most lasting legacy became the numerous articles he wrote dealing with the most painful issue of all – Queensland's frontier Indigenous policy, Native Police system, and what he continually argued was an urgent need for
12543-439: Was reported to be "failure of the heart", but he had been suffering from spasmodic asthma and lung disease for months previously. The announcement of Feilberg's death triggered a quite unprecedented reaction in the contemporary press. The coverage and wording of these articles by far exceeds those honouring the passing of any of his contemporary and in many cases more famous colleagues. His funeral at Brisbane's Toowong Cemetery
12656-464: Was small, with estimates ranging widely from 318,000 to more than 3,000,000 in total. Given geographic and habitat conditions, they were distributed in a pattern similar to that of the current Australian population. The majority were living in the south-east, centred along the Murray River . The First Fleet of British settlers arrived with instructions to "live in amity and kindness" with
12769-414: Was then employed by shipping broker Lloyd's of London . Feilberg's second name was spelled Adolph in his birth record and on most contemporary publications for public use, but he frequently used "Adolf" as his personal signature. Suffering from a serious case of tuberculosis , Feilberg was advised to migrate to Australia where time spent in the dry interior might mitigate some of the symptoms and provide
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