Why a Booktrail?
Various: The horrific true story of one man’s experience of “Aboriginal cleansing”
Benang
What you need to know before your trail
This novel is in fact based on a true story and its author spent more than five years researching his family history. He confirmed that the novel was “inspired by research into his family and my growing awareness of the context of that family history”.
It explores in historical and emotional terms the shameful history of the White treatment of Australian aboriginal people – and the resilience of the Nyoongar people from the time of first contact with the White colonial power
Travel Guide
The Nyoongar people in Western Australia
A difficult account of the Nyoongar Aboriginal people and the process of “Breeding out the colour” which took place in order to wipe out the population and make them more white.
Children were forced from their homes and families to be assimilated into white society. It was thought that if they bred with white people, they would eventually wipe out any trace of Aboriginal colour.
This unbelievable practice occurred apparently due to the government’s inability to classify mixed children for the government system, as well as their fear of what mixing would do for the society.
Young narrator Harley, born out of his white grandfather Ern’s experiments in order to produce the ‘first white man’, ultimately finds his true place within his Nyoongar heritage.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Benang
Destination: Western Australia Author/Guide: Kim Scott Departure Time: Various
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
