Summary

Part 2, Chapter 1, or “Mathinna: Flinders Island, Australia, 1840,” began with Mathinna alone in the forest. She thought about the Franklins’ plans and feared for her fate. After her mother’s death, her stepfather had told her “stories about the Palawa gods” to comfort her (73). Her people had “lived on Lutruwita,” the island renamed Van Diemen’s Land, “in splendid isolation” until the white men arrived (73). The Palawa were “twelve nations” of about six clans, each with different languages and customs. When white men arrived 200 years prior, the Palawa believed them to be “half man, half beast” (74). When they planned to stay, the British systematically pushed the Palawa from their ancestral lands, created grazing pastures, and warred against the Palawa. Eventually, the British government authorized the senseless torture and murder of the Palawa. After their numbers were considerably reduced, the remaining Palawa were...