First Australians They Have Come To Stay Episode 1 ★ Aboriginal Documentary HD

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• The Dreaming as an origin story

  • Before living beings, the continent is described as flat and lifeless.
  • “Giant beings” arrive from the sky and sea and emerge from within the Earth.
  • With their arrival, “the Dreaming” begins, creating life.
  • Specific ancestral beings shape the landscape (rivers, mountains) and leave their essence so that places become sacred to people who honor the Dreaming.

• The scale and sophistication of Aboriginal societies

  • Australia is portrayed as having an extremely long continuity of Aboriginal civilization (quoted as hundreds of thousands of years; the subtitles vary on exact numbers).
  • Aboriginal life is described as highly organized:
    • 250+ tribes
    • Each with distinct languages, laws, and territorial boundaries
  • The video challenges the idea that Aboriginal people “didn’t use” the land:
    • It claims the continent could support about 1.6 billion lives (as a framing of ecological productivity and land management).

• First contact and collision of worlds (1788 onward)

  • The First Fleet arrives on 25 January 1788:
    • 11 ships
    • Over 1300 people (many convicts; rest soldiers)
  • Aboriginal people in canoes light fires, yell, and attempt to drive away “apparitions.”
  • Early interactions include moments of curiosity and dancing together, with Europeans trying to interpret Aboriginal appearances and intentions.
  • A recurring theme: misunderstanding from both sides—each side reads the other through its own cultural assumptions.

• Key figures and their roles

  • Arthur Phillip (First Fleet commander/governor): depicted as trying to negotiate “intercourse” and “conciliate” relations with Aboriginal people.
  • Bennelong: a young Aboriginal man who has passed sacred initiation ceremonies; becomes a mediator-like figure.
  • William Bradley: naval officer whose paintings provide evidence of early interactions; also appears in kidnapping/abduction-related events.
  • David Collins (judge advocate, described through his quoted commentary/voice): provides interpretation and moral framing of events.
  • William Dawes / William Dors (spelled inconsistently; likely “Dawes”): portrayed as forming a tender learning relationship with an Aboriginal woman.
  • Pangam / Pemo / others: Aboriginal men referenced in conflict events and violence cycles.
  • Governor John Hunter: appears later in the story.
  • Reverend Thomas Fisher Palmer and other colonial religious/official voices appear as part of punitive/conflict context.

• “Good intentions” vs. structural harm

  • The video emphasizes that even official policies meant to “open intercourse” were undermined by colonization’s underlying logic:
    • British instructions direct taking/occupying land.
    • Separate settlements, military structures, and cleared territory follow.
  • Early social contact improves at times (Bennelong, Dors), but the foundation of land seizure and disease creates catastrophe.

• Disease as a turning point

  • Smallpox (1789) is described as wiping out the majority of Aboriginal people in the Sydney region.
  • The subtitles include speculation and debate about:
    • whether smallpox arrived with the First Fleet,
    • or whether it was deliberately introduced (the speaker says they “simply can’t comprehend” the idea, though it is mentioned as a belief).
  • Colonial accounts portray horror and mass death; survivors flee and carry disease further.

• Bennelong’s abduction and coerced contact

  • After smallpox and social breakdown, the British seek communication.
  • A named event in 1789:
    • Two Aboriginal men are abducted (one is Bennelong).
    • They are taken to government house, cleaned, clothed, and shown a new world.
    • Bennelong becomes comfortable enough to engage socially and learn colonial customs/language.
  • The relationship is framed as intimate but also unequal and shaped by coercion.

• Ritual violence and the limits of diplomacy

  • When Bennelong spear-rituals occur (including an incident where Arthur Phillip is speared):
    • It is portrayed as “payback”—a ritualized response to injury and offense rather than random attack.
    • The video frames it as enforcing boundaries: Phillip’s actions have crossed a line in Aboriginal political/ceremonial terms.
  • Bennelong’s later shifting behavior is shown as a mix of negotiation, survival strategy, and cultural obligation.

• Escalation to open war and cycles of retaliation

  • 10 December 1790 (approx.): a gamekeeper (McIntyre) is killed by a “death spear.”
  • The colony responds with punitive revenge expeditions:
    • Orders to capture or kill Aboriginal people.
    • Dawes/Dors is described as refusing participation in one action (per the subtitle narrative).
  • Revenge and counter-revenge escalate until Aboriginal resistance is described as widespread.

• Colonial war trophies and humiliation

  • Pemo/Pangam’s head is taken to the colony, preserved in alcohol, shipped to England, and displayed at the Royal College of Surgeons Museum.
  • This is framed as:
    • insulting to the deceased,
    • damaging to families and burial/ceremonial obligations,
    • and a symbol of conquest.

• Bennelong’s decline and the collapse of early relations

  • After smallpox and later land grabbing, Bennelong’s status shifts:
    • Once treated as a celebrity/mediator in England and Sydney,
    • eventually he becomes marginalized, drinks heavily, and is portrayed as trapped in colonial power dynamics.
  • There’s also emphasis that Aboriginal people reject colonial “offerings” when they value autonomy and land.

• Long-term aftermath: land grab expansion west

  • The narrative extends beyond Episode 1’s early period into later decades:
    • settlers cross the Blue Mountains and move into new territories
    • Aboriginal people are dispossessed and conflicts intensify
  • A later era is shown through descendants’ stories (e.g., the Suter family and local Wiradjuri/other groups—spelled inconsistently as “Rery,” “Wery,” etc. in the subtitles).

• Later frontier conflict: cultural clash over land and “property”

  • The video contrasts:
    • British definitions of land ownership and farming,
    • Aboriginal definitions where land, animals, springs, and sacred sites are not merely “property.”
  • Sacred trees and Bora/ceremonial grounds are described as being destroyed or carved over by settlers, producing outrage.

• A recurring conflict pattern

  • The subtitles repeatedly show a cycle:
    • small misunderstandings or resource conflicts
    • violent retaliation
    • colonial martial law / punitive expeditions
    • further destabilization and revenge
  • Examples include:
    • potato conflicts escalating into warfare,
    • declarations of martial law,
    • settlers recommending mass killing,
    • mounted police campaigns resulting in mass death.

• Peace efforts framed through leadership and pride

  • In the later frontier segment, Warin/“Saturday” (also spelled Saturday/waning/similar) is portrayed as:
    • a feared warrior/chief,
    • who negotiates peace after major violence
  • The story concludes Episode 1 with a theme of healing, while noting that land issues persist “200 years on.”

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Methodology / list-style instructions presented (if any)

• Colonial “instructions” to govern relations (from British leadership to Governor Phillip) The subtitles present a directive-like approach, including:

  • Open intercourse with Aboriginal people
  • Conciliate their affections
  • Join British subjects to live in amity and kindness
  • (Contrastingly, other policies/actions follow that override this goal):
    • occupy/claim Aboriginal land as British territory
    • clear land for settlement
    • establish separate areas (e.g., for convict women)
    • create military and administrative control structures

• Colonial punitive/containment actions (revenge expeditions) While not fully a “step-by-step manual,” the subtitles describe ordered operational intent:

  • Prepare provisions for a march
  • Use ropes to bind captives
  • Carry hatchets/bags for violent acts (as described)
  • Capture a small number if possible, otherwise kill them if capture is impracticable
  • Enact retaliation after specific deaths/wounds of settlers or colonists

• Aboriginal conflict management (as depicted) The subtitles depict Aboriginal “rules” and political culture as including:

  • ritualized retaliation (“payback” / spear-ritual)
  • ceremony and boundary enforcement rather than purely spontaneous revenge
  • leadership-driven decisions to negotiate peace after devastation

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Speakers / sources featured (identified from subtitles)

• Arthur Phillip (governor; described through dialogue/quotes attributed to the story)
• William Bradley (naval lieutenant; quoted/described)
• Elizabeth MacArthur (mentioned/portrayed as a settler who receives/engages with Bennelong)
• David Collins (Judge Advocate; quoted commentary)
• Arthur (Phillip) / Governor Phillip (as a key authority figure in the narration)
• Lord Sydney (Secretary for the Home Department; presented as an authority issuing policy)
• William Dors / William Dawes (spelled inconsistently; settler/official who meets an Aboriginal woman and learns language)
• Patty urang / Parang mang (name variants; Aboriginal woman connected to the Dawes/Dors relationship)
• Pemo (Aboriginal man involved in conflict; his “death spear” killing is central)
• McIntyre (gamekeeper killed)
• Governor John Hunter (mentioned later)
• Reverend Thomas Fisher Palmer (named in relation to colonial interpretation/conflict)
• Reverend Lee (pacemaker/leader mentioned near Bennelong’s death)
• George Suter / George Suter Jr / family members (appearing in the later segment through recollection)
• “Saturday” / Warat/Wiran/Werion (name variants; Aboriginal leader/chief described as negotiating peace)
• Narration/music: the subtitles largely reflect a documentary-style narrator perspective; specific narrator name is not provided.

Note: Several Indigenous names are inconsistently transcribed due to auto-generated subtitles; the list above reflects the names as they appear.