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Rottnest Island Penal Settlement
Since the first settlements in Australia there has always been conflict between the Aboriginals and the white European settlers. ... The Europeans then began to take over the land, endorsing white laws and authority over the Aboriginals who had, in fact, inhabited the land some 40 000 years before white settlement. ... The government and the public view was to isolate the aborigines from the settlements and it was then put forth that Rottnest Island would host one of Australias Penal settlements, for aboriginals.
An Aboriginal prison was established on Rottnest Island in 1838, justified by the claim that prisoners could, on the isolation of the island, be "gradually trained in the habits of civilized life." Yet a proposal in 1842 to establish an island school was rejected. ... Many black fighters were sent to Rottnest on the slightest suspicion: 28 men found in the vicinity of speared cattle near Carnarvon were exiled without fair trial. ... Rottnest, argues Green, "became the final answer for holding those too wild and rebellious to submit. ... In 1846 a French priest described blacks of all ages being taken to Rottnest in chains.
Approximate Word count = 880
Approximate Pages = 3.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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