Despite having the most traumatic and violent history of frontier conflict Tasmania has still not given appropriate acknowledgement of its war against aboriginal people. There are now calls for a recognition of the countless resistance figures who fought to protect their land.
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00:00They are stories of families and cultures violently overwhelmed, of exile, of official
00:14lies and mistruths still unreconciled, but also of resistance and survival.
00:23For Nala Mansell, the experiences of a young woman named Walia continue to be an inspiration.
00:31Walia, as well as many other Tasmanian Aboriginal women of the time, were kidnapped and forced
00:38to be slaves for the white sealers because of their skills in sealing.
00:45She was taken to remote Bass Strait Islands, not knowing if she would see her family again.
00:51I can only imagine the terror that she would have felt.
00:56You know, I'm sure she spent that time remembering her siblings and her parents, her community
01:02and family who were still living in their traditional homelands at the times that she was taken.
01:10But Walia resisted her captors and managed to escape.
01:14She engaged in forms of violent resistance and was feared for her cunning and determined attitude.
01:21I just think she embodies the Palawa spirit.
01:25Everything that we do today, everything, every action that we take is, I think that stems from
01:34the actions of people such as Walia and Nicomenic and all those who were warriors for our community.
01:41Reminders of Tasmania's colonial past and convict heritage are built into the very fabric of
01:48its cities and towns.
01:50But it's also the scene of Australia's most organised and violent attempts to destroy Aboriginal
01:55culture.
01:56There's no physical recognition of those who resisted this overwhelming colonial power.
02:02Like Tonga Longata, an Oyster Bay man who led resistance after witnessing countless deaths
02:10of Aboriginal people and abductions of women and girls.
02:15They drove the Vandimusland populace to a state of desperation.
02:22And in response to that, Governor Arthur ordered a levy en masse, the largest domestic military
02:29offensive in Australia's history.
02:32As historian Nick Clements explains, Tonga Longata was overwhelmed and reached an armistice
02:38with Governor George Arthur.
02:40The last 16 warriors still allowed to keep their spears and the population of Hobart watched
02:48in awe as these last warriors walked down Elizabeth Street to meet the Governor.
02:56He was exiled to Flinders Island where he continued to be a leader.
03:01He managed to do it in spite of the fact that he'd lost by this stage nearly everyone he'd
03:06ever loved.
03:07His first wife had been abducted, never to be seen again.
03:11He'd lost his child, he'd lost his arm in battle, he'd lost ultimately his country.
03:18Dr Clements says Tonga Longata should be celebrated like other Australian war heroes.
03:24It should be a conversation for all Tasmanians so that we can all feel a part of this.
03:28Because after all, someone like Tonga Longata, we can all admire a man like that.