Black Line

Tasmania’s Black War remains the longest-standing conflict to ever occur on Australian soil. From 1824 – 1831, British settlers were consistently at war with Tasmanian Aboriginals who fiercely resisted the occupation of their land. 

Pressured to end the conflict and bring peace to the colony, Governor George Arthur pulled together the largest force ever assembled against any Aboriginal group in Australia. Over 2000 armed troops, settlers, and convicts formed seven human chains stretching across the settled districts and moved south, scouring the land  in an attempt to capture, displace, and relocate Aboriginal people.