Tasmanian Genocide

 Above are the last two full-blooded Tasmanian people. The woman's name is Truganini.) - After a visit to Australia, CharlesDarwin, 19th century British biologist and geologist, said, "Wherever the European had trod, death seems to pursue the Aboriginal." In 1803, the British began to settle the island, after "discovering" it for themselves in 1642. Only 73 years later, the last of around 6,000 native inhabitants had been murdered. The European settlers kidnapped Tasmanian children for servants and women for concubines; they killed or mutilated the men and conquered their hunting land in an attempt to expel them from their territory. Major stories include a lone shepherd killing 19 Tasmanians with a nail rifle, while 4 other shepherds ambushed a group of natives, killed thirty of them and dumped their bodies off a cliff known today as "VictoryHill". The native Tasmanians attempted retaliation, and as part of the effort to prevent the escalation of a war, in April of 1828 Governor Arthur ordered that all Tasmanians must leave the part of the island settled by Europeans. To enforce the order, government-sponsored "patrol teams" composed of prisoners led by policemen were established. The “patrol teams” chased and killed Tasmanians as the soldiers had the authority to immediately kill any Tasmanian they found in the settled areas. Afterwards, a price was set for native heads: 5 British pounds for an adult, and 2 pounds for a child (caught alive). This pursuit was known as "Catching Blacks". All remaining Tasmanians were taken to "prisons" (Concentration Camps) under the authority of a missionary named George Augustus Robinson in 1830; many died on the way to this concetration camp on Flinders Island, 50 kilometers from Tasmania. They were they only survivors.