Homie History: The Australian Emu Wars
It’s real history, as told by some friendly dude in my inbox and me.
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In 1917, as soldiers returned home from WWI, the Australian Government rewarded thousands of them with land upon which to farm wheat. This didn’t go as planned, eventually leading to the Australian government raising a war against emus in 1932. Here’s Aftab with the story.
A man that isn’t horny about history. We love to see it.
As I mentioned in the post, this land that was being given away wasn’t theirs to give. All full blooded Aboriginal peoples, who the land actually belong to, were denied access to these plots. The only two men to receive land were half castes. To even be eligible, the half castes had to provide three references from white people.
If you want to read more about it:
The Great Emu War by Gordon Cope
If you want to listen:
Stuff You Should Know: Emu Wars
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I actually knew about this before, but didn't know about the indigenous folks getting the shaft. Not that this surprises me - the only thing that does is that they even let any of them be a part of it, as this was right in the middle of the Stolen Generation as well.
I like Aftab.