Summary

An excerpt from the Introduction:

The first edition of Race Relations in North Queensland was published in 1978. It was among the earliest publications of the History Department at James Cook University and has been out of print for some years. In response to many requests for the book the Department decided that it would be republished in amended form to mark the International Year of the World's Indigenous People.

Something should perhaps be said about the genesis of the original edition. It emerged from the teaching and research on race relations carried out during the middle years of the 1970s. Apart from the three chapters contributed by the editor all the other material was written by students working in the Department on honours and postgraduate theses. Seven of the nine student contributors had been undergraduates at James Cook. Five of the contributors are currently working as historians in Australian university departments. Since 1978 the authors of the various articles have published major works on the history of European-Aboriginal relations, pioneer women, local government, regional development, Pacific Islanders and North Queensland Chinese communities. In a very real sense, then, the original contributions were works in progress.

Seven of those original chapters have, for one reason or another, not stood the test of time or have been superseded by later work. Six new pieces take their place. Three are by students who passed through the department since the original edition was published. Coverage of themes is much the same in the new edition as in the old and reflects the weight given to the different subject areas in the Department's research efforts. Eight chapters are on Aboriginal-European relations, three on Chinese immigrants, two on Pacific Islanders and one on Torres Strait Islanders.

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This new edition is dedicated to the late Eddie Koiki Mabo as a tribute to his long struggle for justice which culminated in the High Court judgement in Mabo v. Queensland in June 1992.