Strangers on Country

Giom, Anco and Duramboi are the names of just three young shipwreck survivors and convict escapees who were given refuge by Indigenous communities during the nineteenth century. No one knows exactly how many received sustenance from the local people, but there are some documented accounts of these experiences. Strangers on Country includes the stories of six Europeans and the people who cared for them.

To Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the first castaways and runaway convicts that arrived in their homes must have appeared pretty scary. The strangers didn’t speak their language and didn’t understand their ways, but they were desperately in need of refuge. Despite their fears, the Indigenous hosts often treated the lost strangers with kindness, taking pity on them and giving them food and shelter. When they returned to live among white people, the castaways and convicts spoke fondly of the people who had rescued them.

Based on historical records each story in this book is told through two historical fiction narratives. The first is from the point of view of an Indigenous person who befriends the stranger in their land. The second is from the point of view of the castaway or convict who is given refuge. At the end of each chapter, there is a section of facts and information. Too often Australian history is told only from the point of view of the Europeans who sailed here from across the world.