How Aboriginal and Islander People Helped Build Australia.
In this book, Henry Reynolds debunks the notion that indigenous peoples have contributed nothing towards the creation of a prosperous modern society, that modern Australia rests on the sturdy foundations put down in the nineteenth century by the European pioneers.
'Black Pioneers' pays tribute to the labour and skill of the thousands of black men, women and children who worked for the Europeans in a wide range of occupations: as interpreters, concubines, trackers, troopers, servants, nursemaids, labourers, stockworkers and pearl-divers. Some of their intriguing stories are here revealed.
