Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

One of the things that I wanted to do on this trip was to make contact with the Bundjalung community, original owners of this area, to pay my respects to them and to apologise belatedly for the actions of my ancestors for taking their land in the first place and for any untoward acts they committed in the process. While all the details were never recorded, it is indisputable that the Clarence Valley (and Australia generally) was taken by force from the original owners. While this can never be undone, it seems reasonable to me to say that I am sorry for the way it happened and that I wish it could have been otherwise.

I cannot agree with those who condemn what they term "the black armband view of history" and that to say sorry is to accept guilt for actions in the past. In my view those who take this view must in their hearts still carry guilt that is so great that they just can't face up to it. If you think about personal situations, often it is hardest to say sorry when you know you were wrong but just won't face that. As a historian it seems to me that Australians have always had a fair idea of the violent ways in which our European ancestors took possession of this country and have had to find reasons to vilify and condemn Aboriginal people in order to justify those actions. Sadly there are still many who seek to do that today.

History also makes it clear that we always knew that terra nullis was a myth. There are numerous accounts across the country of early settlers recording original Australians explaining to them how they defined land possession and there are equally as many accounts of Europeans acknowledging that the Australians couldn't just move elsewhere once dispossessed because all the land was possessed by other groups. Terra nullis was just something we invented to make ourselves feel better about what we were doing. Clearly it was a matter of us having the might and we used it. Why some sad folk can't just admit that is a mystery to me.

I also wanted to find out if there are any local people who are either descended from the Ogilvies or Tindals or had family stories of contact with either family. When we visited the exhibition of Lindt photos at the Art Gallery they gave me contact details for Debby Taylor, one of the researchers from the Gurehlgam Corporation and she kindly organised a get together with a number of locals today.

About a dozen Bundjalung people came and very graciously accepted my apologies. They also shared with me some of the stories that they had heard from grandparents about the massacres of the early days and some of the prejudices they had faced and sometimes still face in living their lives.

In white written history the Ogilvie family are generally regarded as having positive relationships with the original Australians even though there are records of them having participated in some of the early massacres on the Clarence. Sadly, however, it seems that in some local oral history Edward Ogilvie is regarded with mixed feelings. However, the group made it clear that while they share my sadness at what occurred, they don't bear any personal grudge about it and all they hope for is the oft trumpeted Aussie "fair go".

Amongst the group were people who are descended from Toolbillibam and from John Travers Tindal and their stories are so important to my trip that I will cover them in individual posts.