I’m Related To A Dark Piece Of History and I’m Not Taking Sides




 Many people are probably not aware of this piece of history nor would you be aware of the fictional adaptation by Thomas Keneally but I am aware of it and so is the indigenous community. 


The Breelong murders occurred in Dubbo on the 21st of July 1938. It was later adapted into a fiction novel called The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith and then a movie by the same name which had Ray Meagher from Home and Away in it. Thomas Keneally’s intention was to be sympathetic to the First Nations community and expose how white people can be abusive toward indigenous people. He tried to characterise a brutal mass murder as tragic because of his race. Now people aren’t always aware of this other end of the spectrum of racism but that’s exactly what was done here and downplayed what was a horrific real life event.

In the true event Jimmy Governor was an individual. He is not a representative of the entire indigenous community and there were many indigenous people at that time that did not condone and did not participate in his actions. What people aren’t aware of is that Jimmy Governor was hit on the head with a brick during a pub brawl and may have sustained a brain injury that could of made him violent but there was no conclusive evidence on this.

My ancestors that were involved in this event hired Jimmy to put up fencing but did not pay him properly and bullied him. I don’t condone the behaviour of the Mawbeys toward Jimmy Governor. At the end of the day both the Mawbeys and Jimmy Governor had a guilty part to play but what the Mawbey’s did, did not warrant their murder. It wasn’t like Jimmy attacked John and Sarah Mawbey, and even if he did that wouldn’t have been justified. He murdered Sarah, her maid, and many of their children. It was more than a murder it was a massacre that Jimmy executed with his accomplice Jackie. 


Thomas Keneally profited from a story and through fiction that is very similar to tabloid magazine fiction, he managed to offend both the indigenous community and everyone related to the Mawbey’s. Both sides were guilty of a type of violence, but only Jimmy and Jackie took innocent lives that did nothing to them. Innocent children and being a father did not deter Jimmy. Jimmy is only representative of himself and in his own words the a-moral bush rangers of that time.

So if you see this movie or read this book I urge you to look up the history of the Breelong Murders and remember that Jimmie Governor was not a representative for First Nations people, he was a representative of toxic bush ranger culture at the time and mass murderers. Jimmy Governor was a brutal mass murderer and he does not deserve any heroism. Instead of choosing to rise above the abuse he endured, he chose to become an abuser, a murderer and a menace.


Bibliography

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10977504

http://mawbeyfamilyaustralia.blogspot.com/2010/01/mawbey-massacre.html

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1201493-chant_of_jimmie_blacksmith

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Take On The It Ends With Us Controversy

Image
  https://youtu.be/JRCqbxTsU60?si=tKY1uRVdmq6rcDZH Hi Dragonflies, I read It Ends With Us a week before the movie came out and it was recommended to me by my friend Gurpreet Dhariwal who has been a huge support for me when it comes to Walk Everyday May. I read the book and I enjoyed it. For me, I felt like the telling of the story between Ryle and Lily was more about seeing the relationship via the victim's eyes and that the victim was in love. When you see this kind of relationship through the eyes of others it looks very different. But I also agree with the critiques of this book and film. I saw the movie and it was ok, but I felt it didn't carry as much emotional weight as the book. I was also surprised when people I knew who weren't that interested in the topic of DV were very interested in seeing this movie. It actually made me angry that these people wanted to watch this movie because I felt like the fact that they were excited to see this film was a little insulting,...
Read more

What Is UNCRC and why will I be writing a series of blog entries on this topic?

 Hi Dragonflies, I've currently been studying childcare and some of the stuff I stumble upon has inspired me with this blog. The UNCRC stands for the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.  The purpose of the United Nation’s Convention of the Rights of Children outlines the rights of children in international law and it includes 54 points that cover all parts of a child’s life to ensure all children receive equal care, attention and access to political, economic, social and cultural needs that they deserve. The reason I relate to this document is because this blog is all about human rights and children's rights are human rights. I write this blog to expose the people that trample intentionally on the rights of others and I relate it to my own experience of childhood trauma and encountering other abusive people in my adult life. It's not just certain family members I have come across who are abusive but also people I'm not related to. Of course, I won'...
Read more

A Narcissist Grieving Over A Parent Is Twice as Dangerous

Image
  Hi Dragonflies, If you have experienced what I have learnt recently than this blog entry will resonate with you the most. Personally I have noticed my father getting worse. What I didn't realise was that even though this was not my Grandmother's intention and that she was just trying to be a good mother, she unknowingly became a source of narcissistic supply to my father. My father would continue to have an obsession with me while my Grannie was alive and my Grannie would often leave notes at my house(when I lived in the old unit) or text messages(before I changed my number) to get me to talk to my father which I would always ignore. My father can easily get on other peoples nerves but he is not really much of a danger to others except myself. Well usually. This time is different.  For many years my father could not get in contact with me unless I made contact myself and for 2 years I didn't hear from him because I made it impossible for him to contact me. When my Grannie...
Read more