image of person or book cover 5470991186568830871.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier single work   biography  
Alternative title: Warrior
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In the 1840s, white settlement in the north was under attack. European settlers were in awe of Aboriginal physical fitness and fighting prowess, and a series of deadly raids on homesteads made even the townspeople of Brisbane anxious.

'Young warrior Dundalli was renowned for his size and strength, and his elders gave him the task of leading the resistance against the Europeans' ever increasing incursions on their traditional lands. Their response was embedded in Aboriginal law and Dundalli became one of their greatest lawmen. With his band of warriors, he had the settlers in thrall for twelve years, evading capture again and again, until he was finally arrested and publicly executed.

'Warrior is the extraordinary story of one of Australia's little-known heroes, one of many Aboriginal men to die protecting their country. It is also a fresh and compelling portrait of life in the early days of white settlement of Brisbane and south east Queensland.' (Source Publisher's website)

Notes

  • This book contains chapters:

    Prologue: The public hanging

    1. Growing up in the Blackall Range

    2. The young negotiator: Trade and diplomacy to March 1842

    3. The Great Toors of 1842?43: The Bora men change strategy

    4. The attack on Gregor's station

    5. White politics and black politics

    6. Attempts at conciliation

    7. The feud continues: Capture, trial, aftermath

  • Epilogue: Remembering Dundalli

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 5470991186568830871.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: xii,268p.
      Description: illus., map, and ports.
      Note/s:
      • Includes bibliography and index.
      • Publication date April 2015
      • Author's note: Traditional owners and their families and supporters do not always agree on language and land boundaries, and sometimes dispute claims of descent from many of the people who feature in this history. This work does not claim authority on any specific native title claim or language boundary, as the contours of Dundalli's life are its central purpose.(Source: page ix)
      ISBN: 9781760110482 (pbk), 1760110485 (pbk)
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Resistance Fighter Book a 'Notable Contribution' 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 10 August no. 632 2016; (p. 39) 'The peak national organisation of historians has declared University of Southern Queensland (USQ) history lecturer Dr Libby Connors' book on Aboriginal resistance fighter Dundalli as a "notable contribution" to the understanding of the Indigenous experience in 19th century Australia. ...'
Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier : Review Russell McGregor , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 47 no. 1 2016; (p. 166-168)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography 'The subtitle suggests that this is a biography. In fact it is only partly that, and the biographical elements are not the most successful aspects of the book. Connors’ real achievement lies in her depiction of the collective responses of Aboriginal people to the British intrusion into what is now south-eastern Queensland. ...'
Libby Connors , Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Jonathan Richards , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Queensland Review , June vol. 23 no. 1 2016; (p. 99-100)

'As most historians know well, Queensland was once part of New South Wales, so the pre-Separation history of the colony is an important period. Unfortunately, not enough work has been done on the ‘Queensland’ frontier before 1859, and many details remain obscure or unknown. Libby Connors’ excellent new book has changed that situation, providing Queenslanders with a remarkably detailed and well-researched account of Brisbane’s early race relations history. There is no longer any excuse for ‘not knowing’ what happened to Aboriginal people in the state’s south-east in those first years of contact.' (Introduction)
[Review Essay] Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors 2015 Blake Singley , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 1 2016; (p. 95)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography

'The myth of the warrior looms large in the Australian popular imagination. The young men who served at Gallipoli, at the Western Front and across other fields of battle have not faded from the national consciousness and, in many instances, have been canonised as secular saints. The language of sport is imbued with martial terms; football matches are often described as battles and those playing on the field earn the epithet of ‘warrior’. The display of aggression seen on the playing field is lauded as noble and heroic. The most notable exception to this was seen in 2015 when Aboriginal Australian Football star Adam Goodes was criticised by some for performing a war dance after scoring a goal. For some critics, the warlike display by a proud and strong Aboriginal man was too much to take. The same pride and physicality in the Aboriginal man Dundalli struck fear in the hearts and minds of the European inhabitants in the fledging British settlement of Brisbane and its surrounds. Dundalli came to exemplify the dangers that lay beyond the limits of colonial control. It is the little known story of this man and the resistance of the Dalla, Jagara and Gubbi Gubbi people to European invasion that historian Libby Connors chronicles in Warrior' (Introduction)
Warrior: A Legendary Leader’s Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier : Review Jonathan Richards , 2015 single work
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , December vol. 39 no. 2015; (p. 305-306)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography
A Culture Clash Now Understood as War Rohan Wilson , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23-24 May 2015; (p. 18)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography
Killing Time Raymond Evans , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , December vol. 12 no. 3 2015; (p. 232-236)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography
Warrior: A Legendary Leader’s Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier : Review Jonathan Richards , 2015 single work
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , December vol. 39 no. 2015; (p. 305-306)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography
Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier : Review Russell McGregor , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , vol. 47 no. 1 2016; (p. 166-168)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography 'The subtitle suggests that this is a biography. In fact it is only partly that, and the biographical elements are not the most successful aspects of the book. Connors’ real achievement lies in her depiction of the collective responses of Aboriginal people to the British intrusion into what is now south-eastern Queensland. ...'
[Review Essay] Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors 2015 Blake Singley , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Aboriginal Studies , no. 1 2016; (p. 95)
— Review of Warrior : A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Libby Connors , 2015 single work biography

'The myth of the warrior looms large in the Australian popular imagination. The young men who served at Gallipoli, at the Western Front and across other fields of battle have not faded from the national consciousness and, in many instances, have been canonised as secular saints. The language of sport is imbued with martial terms; football matches are often described as battles and those playing on the field earn the epithet of ‘warrior’. The display of aggression seen on the playing field is lauded as noble and heroic. The most notable exception to this was seen in 2015 when Aboriginal Australian Football star Adam Goodes was criticised by some for performing a war dance after scoring a goal. For some critics, the warlike display by a proud and strong Aboriginal man was too much to take. The same pride and physicality in the Aboriginal man Dundalli struck fear in the hearts and minds of the European inhabitants in the fledging British settlement of Brisbane and its surrounds. Dundalli came to exemplify the dangers that lay beyond the limits of colonial control. It is the little known story of this man and the resistance of the Dalla, Jagara and Gubbi Gubbi people to European invasion that historian Libby Connors chronicles in Warrior' (Introduction)
Warrior Queen Lizzie Stafford , 2015 single work biography
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 29 April - 5 May no. 1027 2015; (p. 37)
High Flyer to Author : Literary Winner Rises from the Ashes of Redundancy Phil Brown , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 10 October 2015; (p. 23)
Resistance Fighter Book a 'Notable Contribution' 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 10 August no. 632 2016; (p. 39) 'The peak national organisation of historians has declared University of Southern Queensland (USQ) history lecturer Dr Libby Connors' book on Aboriginal resistance fighter Dundalli as a "notable contribution" to the understanding of the Indigenous experience in 19th century Australia. ...'
Libby Connors , Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier Jonathan Richards , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Queensland Review , June vol. 23 no. 1 2016; (p. 99-100)

'As most historians know well, Queensland was once part of New South Wales, so the pre-Separation history of the colony is an important period. Unfortunately, not enough work has been done on the ‘Queensland’ frontier before 1859, and many details remain obscure or unknown. Libby Connors’ excellent new book has changed that situation, providing Queenslanders with a remarkably detailed and well-researched account of Brisbane’s early race relations history. There is no longer any excuse for ‘not knowing’ what happened to Aboriginal people in the state’s south-east in those first years of contact.' (Introduction)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (9)

Awards

VIEW ALL AWARDS (3)
Last amended 13 Aug 2024 11:26:50
Subjects:
  • Moreton Bay, Brisbane - South East, Brisbane, Queensland,
  • Queensland,
  • 1840-1855
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X