Study notes 6: Captivity narratives

Study

Investigation
Identify the main characters in this story and consider the actions that each of them took. How do you think different actions contributed to the story?

What were the likely implications of these actions for the relationship between the colonial government, settlers and Indigenous inhabitants?

Read the introduction to the story of the Captive White Woman of Gippsland. Why are trooper Quandite's and officer Walsh's statements sworn statements? Why is it significant that their statements were recorded in this way? Where and why were they making these statements?

Do we have Tackawadden's own words? How do we know what he said? Consider how reliable this information may be and the reasons for this.

What are the implications of depending on the word and assistance of a nine-year-old boy?

Examine accounts of the search for the 'captive white woman' such as that reported in the Port Phillip Herald of 1846. What were the motivations and interests of the two search teams? What were the government's interests and what role did it play?

Reflection
By 1845 white people had been arriving in Port Phillip in large numbers for about ten years. How well do you think the Aboriginal people and colonial settlers understood each other's languages? What evidence can be found to support your opinions or answers?

What are some of the reasons that local landholders might continue to circulate the captive white woman story?

Identify other stories you can think of that have been reported in the media where claims were made that were later shown to be wrong.

• Why were the claims made?
• Can you think of any contemporary myths or misunderstandings?
• Why do such stories often implicate cultures about which we have little understanding or knowledge?

Analyse the social environment which gives rise to fear and allows untrue information to survive and grow.

• What contributes to such an environment?
• What or whose interests are served by perpetuating these misunderstandings?

The story of the Captive White Woman of Gippsland has been widely represented in the visual arts. What impressions do we form from these images about:

• Aboriginal people
• settlers
• women?

Consider how similar incidents have been represented in the arts - in literature, film, painting, etc.

Extension/Research
What are the elements of the story of the Captive White Woman of Gippsland?

Research what the Aboriginal people of Port Phillip believed about family, marriage and the place of women in society before Europeans arrived.

Read the passage in the text which relates reports of doubt and confusion. Can you suggest what Bungaleena and his clan thought the search party was doing? Consider the evidence for and against these alternative interpretations of events.

How do you think this aspect of society changed, if it changed at all, after 1850?

Research and read what you can about family life on the Aboriginal reserves and mission stations in the 1880s and about European expectations of a 'proper' upbringing.

Explore the idea of different concepts and understandings of the truth. Does this have a role in the study of the past? How do we attempt to establish the 'truth'; when we study history?

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