Frontier Wars - 11 Modern History - Viewing First Australians Episode 4 - There is no other law

This is a worksheet to utilise with the SBS series First Australians Episode 4: There is no other law. This resource was made for use in an 11 Modern History classroom in Queensland, Australia. I have also included a scanned copy of my teacher answer sheet.

According to SBS, “First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. First Australians explores what unfolds when the oldest living culture in the world is overrun by the world’s greatest empire.”

Episode 4 focuses on Central Australia 1878-1897. This episode of First Australians gives an excellent academic account of the first 50 years of contact between the Arrernte people of central Australia and the European missionaries, pastoralists and police.

Throughout the history of white settlement, individual white men, good and bad, have significantly affected the first Australians. Supported by pastoralists keen to make their fortune, the homicidal police officer Constable Willshire, brings mayhem to the Arrernte nation in Central Australia. With the authorities turning a blind eye, the telegraph operator Frank Gillen stops him. Gillen’s other legacy is keeping comprehensive records of the Arrernte people’s way of life.