Peter Vallee

God, Guns and Government on the Central Australian Frontier Peter Vallee 2nd edition

"There's a movie in this story." "Essential reading..." When Mounted Constable William Willshire had his troopers shoot two Aboriginal men, Ereminta and Donkey, in cold blood they left behind several witnesses, and an intriguing story. The man who shot Ereminta, Thomas, was an Aranda-Lutheran, one of the Finke River mission's first converts. This book reveals some surprising connections between the police, including William Willshire, and the missionaries. The pastoralists offered young Aboriginal men and women new opportunities outside traditional life. The frontier policemen protected the white people, serving a law that was of little help when relations between black and white descended into armed conflict. In two trials the deeds of all the players were subject to harsh scrutiny, with results that the proudly British citizens of Adelaide found hard to assimilate. The echoes of these events can be heard in the politics of race in Australia today.