How settler-colonial violence was legitimised through historical amnesia: A systemic critique of sovereignty, land, and the erasure of Indigenous governance
Original framing: “Aboriginal historian Barry Corr vividly investigates colonisation – but is less convincing on politics” — The Conversation - Global
The *Doctrine of Discovery* (1452 papal bull) was the legal foundation for settler-colonialism, framing Indigenous peoples as ‘heathens’ to be ‘converted’ or ‘dispossessed.’ This doctrine was repurposed in Australia through the *1835* *Morton’s Report*, which justified land seizures as ‘protection’ from ‘savagery,’ a narrative that persisted until the *1992* *Mabo* decision. The *1838* *Coranderrk* uprising—where Wurundjeri people resisted forced assimilation—was framed as ‘rebellion’ to justify military crackdowns, a pattern repeated in the *1938* *Pinjarra massacre* and *1967* *Wave Hill Walk-off.’ The *1788* *Sydney Cove rebellion* (led by Pemulwuy) was ignored in official histories until recent decolonial scholarship uncovered its role in resisting *terra nullius*. These historical silences enabled the *1967* referendum’s ‘assimilationist’ framing of Indigenous rights as charity, not sovereignty.
The original framing reduces Barry Corr’s work to a critique of its political conclusions, obscuring how settler-colonialism was *systemically* legitimised through a triad of *legal fictions* (terra nullius), *moral inversions* (humanitarianism as pretext), and *cultural genocide* (erasing Indigenous governance and knowledge).
Historical precedents like the *Doctrine of Discovery* and the *1838 Coranderrk* uprising reveal how Indigenous resistance was framed as ‘barbarism’ to justify state violence, a pattern repeated in modern debates over land rights and self-determination. Cross-cultural comparisons—from *Zapatista* autonomy movements to *Palestinian* struggles—expose how settler states globally weaponise ‘protection’ rhetoric to mask land theft, yet Australian scholarship often treats this as an isolated phenomenon. The omission of Indigenous spiritual and ecological knowledge (e.g., *Boodja* as kinship) reduces colonisation to a ‘humanitarian failure’ rather than a *cultural and ecological* genocide. Future pathways must address this through *decolonial* legal reforms (e.g., Truth and Justice Commissions), *Indigenous-led* climate adaptation, and *educational* decolonisation—all while disrupting the *trickster* logic that frames dispossession as ‘progress.’ The synthesis reveals that settler-colonialism is not a historical relic but a *persistent* system of power, where ‘protection’ is always a euphemism for control, and Indigenous sovereignty remains the most radical challenge to its legitimacy.