Italian
Quasi 200 anni fa, la Tasmania è stata sede di uno dei conflitti interni più tragici della storia australiana, un conflitto che ha visto i colonizzatori bianchi combattere contro gli indigeni australiani per la conquista di terreni fertili.
Il primo contatto documentato tra indigeni della Tasmania ed europei risale al 1772, ma dovranno passare altri 58 anni prima che le ostilità iniziate nei primi anni si trasformassero in una vera e propria guerra.
Nel 1830, infatti, il vice-governatore George Arthur ordinò di formare la cosiddetta black line (linea nera), una catena umana di oltre 2000 soldati, coloni e detenuti che attraversò lo stato nel tentativo di rimuovere gli ultimi indigeni.
Andry Sculthorpe, del Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, racconta che nel giro di brevissimo tempo la situazione diventò catastrofica per i nativi della Tasmania.
"Before colonisation, life was good, people had freedom over their territories. People were able to practice their culture, look after their country, look after their families, and live in a society that met all their needs. Things did come to a fast and traumatic state really quickly. So, the British, within months of the British occupation of Tasmania, there was already massacres occurring on the hunting grounds."
Pur non essendo mai stata riconosciuta ufficialmente, è noto che la cosiddetta Black War abbia sterminato quasi completamente la comunità indigena della Tasmania.
Tra le vittime della guerra vi furono anche centinaia di europei, mentre i danni economici alle colonie furono altissimi.
Secondo il dottor Nick Clements, storico e autore, la Black Line e l'intera guerra furono un disastro per gli indigeni e i non indigeni della Tasmania.
"This remains, to this day, the largest domestic military offensive in Australia's history. And it was a complete fiasco. When we look at the consequences of the war, and how devastating it was for Aboriginal people, we can easily forget how devastating it was for the Europeans at the time. It absolutely terrified them. Entire communities abandoned their properties because of their fear of Aborigines."
Nonostante la campagna della Black Line fu un fallimento, gli europei riuscirono comunque ad ottenere il controllo della Tasmania.
Oggi, a distanza di secoli, gli storici continuano a sollecitare il riconoscimento formale del conflitto.
Secondo Clements, questo riconoscimento è non solo necessario ma inevitabile.
"I feel that the shameful lack of acknowledgement of frontier war is something that will eventually be rectified."
Il dibattito su come e dove dovrebbe svolgersi questo riconoscimento resta aperto, e l'incapacita di giungere ad un accordo è diventato uno degli ostacoli al progetto stesso.
Alcuni ritengono che l'Australian War Memorial a Canberra sia il luogo migliore per una cerimonia di riconoscimento formale, ma secondo il dottor Brendan Nelson, direttore del War Memorial, la sede ideale sarebbe il National Australian Museum.
"The violence that occurred through the processes of the 19th century and the early 20th century are not a part of the mission of the Australian War Memorial any more than for example for us to tell the story of the violence at the Eureka Stockade. These are stories that need to be told, and must be told by the National Museum of Australia."
Le guerre di frontiera non sono infatti riconosciute ufficialmente come guerre dal governo australiano perché non hanno mai coinvolto l'esercito regolare australiano.
Per questa ragione non esiste a tutt'oggi un luogo ufficiale dove commemorare i caduti di questi conflitti.
English
Almost 200-years ago, Tasmania saw one of the most devastating home conflicts in Australian history.
White settlers and the Indigenous population clashed over fertile land.
The first recorded contact between Indigenous Tasmanians and Europeans was in 1772.
By 1830, a state of war had broken out.
That was when Lieutenant Governor George Arther ordered the formation of the so-called Black Line - a human chain of more than two-thousand soldiers, settlers, and convicts that moved across the state in a bid to displace remaining Indigenous people.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre's Andry Sculthrope says things became disastrous for the island's Indigenous people in a short space of time.
"Before colonisation, life was good, people had freedom over their territories. People were able to practice their culture, look after their country, look after their families, and live in a society that met all their needs. Things did come to a fast and traumatic state really quickly. So, the British, within months of the British occupation of Tasmania, there was already massacres occurring on the hunting grounds."
While not officially recognised, the so-called Black War is said to have almost wiped out the Tasmanian Indigenous community.
Hundreds of Europeans were killed as well, and it cost the colony a huge amount of money.
Historian and author, Doctor Nick Clements, says the Black Line, and the entire war, was a disaster for Indigenous and non-indigenous Tasmanians alike.
"This remains, to this day, the largest domestic military offensive in Australia's history. And it was a complete fiasco. When we look at the consequences of the war, and how devastating it was for Aboriginal people, we can easily forget how devastating it was for the Europeans at the time. It absolutely terrified them. Entire communities abandoned their properties because of their fear of Aborigines."
The Black Line campaign failed, but the Europeans eventually took control of Tasmania.
Centuries on, historians are renewing calls to formally acknowledge the conflicts.
Doctor Clements says he feels acknowledgement is not only necessary, but inevitable.
"I feel that the shameful lack of acknowledgement of frontier war is something that will eventually be rectified."
One obstacle to formal acknowledgement is dispute over where such acknowledgement should occur.
Some think the Australian War Memorial in Canberra is the place to do it.
But the memorial's director, Doctor Brendan Nelson, says the issue, whilst worthy, is outside of War Memorial's scope.
"The violence that occurred through the processes of the 19th century and the early 20th century are not a part of the mission of the Australian War Memorial any more than for example for us to tell the story of the violence at the Eureka Stockade. These are stories that need to be told, and must be told by the National Museum of Australia."
The frontier wars aren't officially recognised by the Australian Government as a war, because they didn't involve the Australian Army.
Therefore, there is no official memorial to commemorate the lives lost.
Report by Sunil Awasthi and Madeline Hayman-Reber
