Cleared Out

In 1964, a group of 20 Aboriginal women and children in the Western Desert made their first contact with European Australians — patrol officers from theWoomera Rocket Range, clearing an area into which rockets were to be fired. They had been pursued by the patrol officers for several weeks, running from this frightening new force in the desert. This is their story told through oral history, archival research, photographs, and rare film footage.

Peter Johnson has taught history, English, and creative writing in high schools and colleges in Canada for over thirty-five years. He has written several books on BC maritime history, including Glyphs and Gallows: The Rock Art of Clo-oose and the Wreck of the John Bright; Voyages of Hope: The Saga of the Bride-Ships; Quarantined: Life and Death at William Head Station, 1872-1959; and, with John Walls, To the Lighthouse: An Explorer's Guide to the Island Lighthouses of Southwestern BC. He has also written and directed a documentary film on Lake Winnipeg, which was shown on CBC television, and published interpretive articles on Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and George Orwell's 1984. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In 1964, a group of 20 Aboriginal women and children in the Western Desert made their first contact with European Australians - patrol officers from the Woomera Rocket Range, clearing an area into which rockets were to be fired. They had been pursued by the patrol officers for several weeks, running from this frightening new force in the desert. This is their story told through oral history, archival research, photographs, and rare film footage.

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