Description

Tongerlongeter: First Nations Leader and Tasmanian War Hero

Tongerlongeter is an epic story of resistance, suffering and survival of one of our revered First-Nation warriors.

This detailed account resurrects a once-in-a-generation leader all Australians can admire. Australia has no war hero more impressive than Tongerlongeter. Leader of the Oyster Bay nation of south-east Tasmania in the 1820s and ’30s, he and his allies led the most effective frontier resistance ever mounted on Australian soil where they killed or wounded some 354 (or 4 per cent) of the invaders of their country.

His brilliant campaign inspired terror throughout the colony, forcing Governor George Arthur to launch a massive military operation in 1830 – the infamous Black Line. He escaped, but the cumulative losses had taken their toll.