Historian’s new book tells stories of Aboriginal heroism

AS a young man, Dr Fred Cahir found himself stranded along the Nullarbor Plain, running out of food and water.

He lived to tell the tale, but said he decided to find out as much as he could about how to survive in the bush.

“When I explored the archives and our pioneering peoples’ journals and memoirs, reminiscences, I discovered that there was a wealth of Aboriginal people in those very records that had saved white people from bushfire, flood, and being lost in the bush like I was,” he said.

“This sparked an intense interest and bewilderment as to why we don’t celebrate this more often.”

Now an Associate Professor and Aboriginal historian at Federation University, Dr Cahir has been inspired by these selfless First Nations people and has written a book about them.

After five years of development, They Rescued Us: Aboriginal Heroes on Country has been publlished.

“It chronicles the hundreds of instances across Australia, where thousands of invaders from all nations, predominantly white people, were rescued from imminent death by Aboriginal people, and in the most extraordinary of circumstances,” Dr Cahir said.

“Many weren’t just cases of seeing someone drowning and diving in, with an innate human response. What I found really amazing was that people were willing to dive into the water many times over, for example, to help invaders of their country.

“It took an extraordinary amount of compassion and bravery for them to not just have an immediate response, but to… put themselves into personal danger for the sake of a person who has occupied their country and oppressed their people.”

The book’s stories go back to before British colonisation began in 1788 to Dutch arrivals and run through to 1967, with some based in the Central and Western districts of Victoria.

“There are a number of cases whereby Aboriginal people were effectively seen as the crack firefighting brigade of the 19th century, where squatters used them for their skills in knowing how to put out fires, and when to retreat when the fire was too intense,” Dr Cahir said.

The aim of the book is to help readers to understand that Aboriginal people have been fundamental in building Australian ethos of volunteerism, selflessness, and mateship.

“These were relationships that were built between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the face of adversity. They answered the call,” he said.

“These are win-win stories, and we can be proud of our shared history with Aboriginal people.”