Blood, Sweat and Welfare

Mary Anne Jebb

When Europeans first arrived in the Kimberley, a turbulent era began for the Indigenous people. To survive, they aligned themselves with white men through unspoken and unequal contracts of ownership and protection.

Aboriginal men were forced to fight for their own women, children and resources, and many were driven away from pastoral stations or gaoled. Until 1968, when equal wages were finally granted, black pastoral workers received only a pocket money allowance and rations. By then the stations no longer sustained them, and Aboriginal people gradually moved towards towns and reserves, where Welfare and Social Security became their only means of survival.

In this absorbing study, survivors of this devastating time speak openly to Mary Anne Jebb about first contact between blacks and whites, the arrival of Welfare, and the demise of pastoralism in the northern ranges. Alongside their oral testimonies, the author draws on a range of written archives to explore what really happened during the settlement of the Kimberley.

Awards

Won – 2004 W K Hancock Prize
Won – 2001 Western Australian History Foundation Award
Won – 2001 Australian Historical Association Centenary of Federation Award

Praise for Blood, Sweat and Welfare:

Blood, Sweat and Welfare is one of the best books currently available about race relations on the pastoral frontier. It is required reading for anyone interested in Aboriginal history.

HENRY REYNOLDS

Book details

PUBLICATION DATE: 2003
FORMAT: Paperback
EXTENT: 364 pages
SIZE: 205 x 135 mm
ISBN: 9781876268619
RIGHTS: World
CATEGORY: Aboriginal, General Non-fiction, Mary Anne Jebb,