Genocide by any other name

In this essay I step back from contemporary discussions, observations and debates around the history of Australian genocide and reveal: a) the words of policymakers and officials during the late nineteenth century about the treatment of Aboriginal people; b) the recognition of genocidal acts in newspaper coverage of the early twentieth century; and c) the assertions of prominent early Aboriginal activists, including my grandfather Fred Maynard, on the violence meted out to Aboriginal people. Neither officials nor Aboriginal activists used the term “genocide” of course, since it had not yet been coined. The terminology they used, however, aligns with a contemporary understanding of genocide. These witnesses and observers were well aware of the genocidal practices occurring during their own time.