Conflict in the valley : the triumph of the Wonnarua

In the following paper, Koori author and historian, James Wilson-Miller, examines the conflict and the subsequent history of his people, his ancestors, his Gringai Clan and his Nation, the Wonnarua. Wilson-Miller is a direct descendant of those Wonnarua people who experienced the armed force of the British Empire as European frontiers pushed into Wonnarua lands, later known as the Hunter Valley. His view is a unique interpretation of Koori History. For the first time the story of Black Australia does not end when the battle between the gun and spear, was won by the gun. Rather this is the beginning of a story of triumph for the survivors of those frontier days, who resisted every attempt to destroy them as a separate race and culture. That triumph forms the basis of Wilson-Miller's book, Koori: A Will To Win, published in 1985. A book recognised by many, as the first full Black History of an Australian Indigenous family. The following paper, reports the history of his people to contemporary times, and discusses the implications of this history for shaping a new future.