The map and the land: hidden Tasmanian histories

In 1803 two ships sailed up the Derwent River, in the south of what is now known as Tasmania, to start what would become a complete transformation of the island. At the time the island was known as ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ (VDL), although for some of the Indigenous inhabitants it was known as trouwanna. It’s estimated that there were probably between 8000 and 10,000 Tasmanian Aborigines at the arrival of the British, divided into nine nations, and a number of clans within that. The relationship between the British newcomers and the original occupants became increasingly volatile over the following twenty years, culminating in the ‘Black War’ of the late 1820s.