大象传媒

Intertribal conflict was a familiar fixture for Australia鈥檚 First Nations people, but nothing could prepare them for the conflict with the British and European arrivals over land and livelihood.

In the first part of this authored series, film-maker Rachel Perkins, who has both European and First Nations ancestry, examines these first encounters following the British arrival in 1788.

The British Empire鈥檚 presence in Sydney began as a small, contained, fortified venture in Sydney Harbour. New South Wales鈥檚 first governor, Arthur Phillip, was tasked with forming friendly alliances with locals. But with the lack of a treaty between occupying forces, a scarcity of resources to feed the growing population and neighbouring tribes not willing to surrender their land, conflict ensued. Successive governors ruled by force. The tactics of terror and intimidation, including some instances of the abuse of children and women, became one of the triggers of war.