People of the River (book)

Last updated

People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia
Author Grace Karskens
GenreHistory
Publisher Allen & Unwin
Publication date
1 September 2020
AwardsAustralian History Prize, NSW Premier's History Awards, 2021

Australian History Prize, Prime Minister's Literary Awards, 2021

Contents

Ernest Scott Prize, 2021 (co-winner)
ISBN 9781760292232
Preceded byThe Colony: A History of Early Sydney 

People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia is a 2020 book by Australian historian Grace Karskens.

The book is about people living along Dyarubbin, otherwise known as the Nepean-Hawkesbury River, on the outskirts of the Greater Sydney region. [1] It begins with chapters on the first people before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and continues through early contact with "emancipist farmers" and their clearing of the land for farming. [2]

Overview

People of the River is written in four parts. Deep Country covers the river's origins and earliest inhabitants. Frontiers deals with early contact between white settlers and the indigenous tribes and conflicts that followed. New Old Land looks at the clearing of the land to make way for farming and the flooding of that land. The final part is People of the River, where Karskens examines individuals' lives to demonstrate the relationships that developed between Aboriginal people and the colonists. [3]

Reception

Writing in Australian Book Review , Alan Atkinson said "Karskens has found ways, brilliantly original ways, of taking in entire populations, and she is particularly good with webs of human connection and patterns of movement." [4] Susan Waggoner critiqued the book for Foreword Reviews, saying "People of the River is a meticulous history whose exciting writing reveals the history of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, the Aboriginal people who settled there, and the English and Irish convicts who arrived and built its farmlands." [5]

Miranda Johnson, an historian at the University of Otago, concluded her review in The Sydney Morning Herald : [6]

The story is richly layered because of the impressive range of disciplinary knowledge that Karskens draws on – from geology, environmental science, archaeology, history, anthropology, linguistics – and because Karskens herself has spent so much time with the river and its people. It is a history that will last because of Karskens’ luminous writing and her ability to counter overgeneralisation with precise and thoughtful analysis of the evidence.

The judges of the 2021 Australian History Prize at the NSW Premier's History Awards wrote: [7]

People of the River stood out from the field for its depth of research and accessibility. Beautifully written, it is a work of rigorous scholarship that seamlessly integrates different historical perspectives and was a pleasure to read.

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Sydney University</span> University in Sydney, Australia

Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus public research university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lachlan Macquarie</span> Scottish British army officer and colonial administrator (1762–1824)

Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, and had a leading role in the social, economic, and architectural development of the colony. He is considered by historians to have had a crucial influence on the transition of New South Wales from a penal colony to a free settlement and therefore to have played a major role in the shaping of Australian society in the early nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawkesbury River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. Between Wisemans Ferry and the Pacific Ocean marks the boundary of Greater Metropolitan Sydney in the south and the Central Coast region to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colo River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

The Colo River, a perennial stream that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepean River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

Nepean River, is a major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River and its associated mouth, the Hawkesbury River, almost encircles the metropolitan region of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Hawkesbury</span> Local government area in New South Wales, Australia

The City of Hawkesbury is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, located on the northern and north-western fringe of the Greater Sydney area, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of the Sydney central business district. Hawkesbury City is named after the Hawkesbury River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Creek (New South Wales)</span> Creek in Sydney, Australia

The South Creek or Wianamatta is a creek that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, located on the Cumberland Plain in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wollondilly River</span> River in Australia

The Wollondilly River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury–Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales. The river meanders from its western slopes near Crookwell, flowing south-east through Goulburn, turning north-east to near Bullio, flowing north-west to Barrallier, before finally heading north-easterly into its mouth at Lake Burragorang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bents Basin State Conservation Area</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Bents Basin is a protected nature reserve and state park near Wallacia, New South Wales, Australia in the Sydney metropolitan area. The lake basin, which formed at the efflux of the Nepean River from the Hawkesbury Sandstone gorge, is a popular swimming hole with a camping area and an education centre used by local school groups. Also featuring a large woodland area and native wildlife, the reserve is the only picnic area along the Nepean River and it is one of the most popular water-based picnic parks in Greater Western Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittwater</span> Estuary in Sydney, Australia

Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Central Coast.

The Macdonald River is a perennial river located in the Hunter and Outer Metropolitan Sydney regions of New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment.

<i>The Secret River</i> 2005 novel by Kate Grenville

The Secret River is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aboriginal people. The book has been compared to Thomas Keneally's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and to Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang for its style and historical theme.

John McGarvie was a Scottish-born Australian Presbyterian minister and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sackville, New South Wales</span> Suburb of City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

Sackville (Doorumbolooa) is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the City of Hawkesbury and at the 2016 census had a population of 298, thirteen of whom identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grose River</span> River in Australia

The Grose River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia.

The Battle of Richmond Hill, also known as the Battle of the Hawkesbury and the Richmond Hill Massacre, was a battle of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars, which were fought between the Indigenous Darug people and the New South Wales Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars</span> Australian frontier conflict

The Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars (1794–1816) were a series of conflicts where British forces, including armed settlers and detachments of the British Army in Australia, fought against Indigenous clans inhabiting the Hawkesbury River region and the surrounding areas to the west of Sydney. The wars began in 1794, when the British started to construct farms along the river, some of which were established by soldiers.

Maria Lock, also known as Maria Locke, was an Aboriginal Australian landowner in the Darug area of Western Sydney. Lock is significant in Australian history due to her educational achievements, having the first legally recognised marriage between a settler and an Aboriginal person, and later for being a landowner in early colonial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Karskens</span> Australian historian

Grace Elizabeth Karskens, is an Australian historian who is professor of history at the University of New South Wales.

Sackville Reach Aboriginal Reserve was located on the Hawkesbury River near Windsor in New South Wales, established in 1889 by the NSW Aborigines Protection Board. The government of the colony of New South Wales gazetted and revoked land for this community in the Parish of Meehan, County of Cook gazetting AR 23,957, AR 23,958 and AR 28,546.

References

  1. Gray, Rachel (8 October 2020). "Uncovering Aboriginal and early settler history along Australia's famous river". UNSW Sydney. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. Johnson, Miranda (24 February 2021). "An epic of place where two peoples were transformed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  3. Irish, Paul (5 October 2020). "People of the River: lost worlds of early Australia". Professional Historians Australia. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  4. Atkinson, Alan (21 October 2020). "Alan Atkinson reviews 'People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia' by Grace Karskens". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  5. Waggoner, Susan (28 May 2021). "Review of People of the River". Foreword Reviews. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  6. Johnson, Miranda (24 February 2021). "An epic of place where two peoples were transformed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  7. "People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia". State Library of NSW. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 "Grace Karskens". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 February 2024.