<
https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-i-said-no-nies-refusal-and-the-troubling-question-of-pacific-slavery-in-australia-181943>
"In 1881 Nie (also known as Nai), a Pacific Islander woman, walked off
“Virginia” plantation, south of Maryborough, in the colony of Queensland.
Crossing through cane fields, she fled in the thick tropical heat to nearby
“Gootchie” plantation to take up work as a domestic servant.
Walking off the plantation was a courageous act. Yet within two weeks, Nie was
violently retrieved by her former employer, British planter Theodore Wood.
Wood believed Nie had broken a verbal contract with him. He arrived at Gootchie
with another man, Harry, where they found Nie working in the kitchen of the
main house alongside Irish servant Annie O’Leary.
When Nie refused to go with the men, they took hold of her by force. As Annie
looked on in dismay, the men dragged Nie across the floor, tied her hands up,
put her into a cart and returned with her to Virginia plantation.
Nie was a ni-Vanuatuan woman. Her age is unknown and so far no images of her
can be found. Wood and his wife had hired Nie as a domestic servant and
nursemaid for their daughter in Fiji. When the family moved to Queesland, Nie
was “imported” with them to continue this domestic work without any
documentation.
It is not clear how Nie had journeyed from Vanuatu to Fiji. She may have
travelled voluntarily or been blackbirded (trafficked) in the Pacific labour
trade.
After Nie was abducted by Wood and Harry at Gootchie, The Polynesian Inspector
(or Government Protector), Mr H. M. Hall, was alerted to the incident. The
matter soon went to court, where Wood was charged with assault.
The legal case drew intense public interest. The
Bundaberg Star reported on
the incident with the sensational headline “A Female Slave in Queensland”. Nie
had not been paid by Wood and was clearly not free to leave Virginia.
The
Star invoked both Nie’s “rights” and the much broader and sensitive
political context around matters of bonded labour, and the spectre of slavery
in Queensland at this time."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
