Decoding Colonial Secrets

Colonial pastoralist Major Logue is a figure of note in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia. But his diaries, written partly in code, reveal a dark and confronting chapter of Australia’s past – a history that Yamatji people already know all too well. Descendants of some perpetrator families are now challenging what they call ‘colonial silence’. For them, truth-telling is real, personal and local. There are no guidelines or rulebooks, and it can lead to denial and indifference – but it can also be a liberation. In this two-part special Full Story, Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs reporter Sarah Collard and Lorena Allam from UTS’s Jumbunna Institute discuss decoding the truth behind Logue’s diaries, and how descendants of colonial violence are coming together to heal from the horrors of the past Warning: This episode contains historical records that use racist and offensive language, and descriptions of events that will be distressing to some