Black Diggers: End Matter Summary & Analysis

Two final documents are included in the book after the text of the play. First is “A Brief History of the Indigenous Diggers in World War I,” in which a researcher for the play, Dr. David Williams, explains that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were not considered citizens” at the beginning of World War One in 1914. They were forced onto reservations and faced extensive discrimination, but many decided to join the military, even though those “not of ‘substantially European descent’” were formally excluded. Some managed to enlist anyway, and in 1917 the law changed to allow “half-castes” to join.

Ultimately, 2,000 of Australia’s 80,000 Indigenous people joined the AIF, and—for the first time in any domain of Australian society—served on equal footing with whites. They fought in various places and served various roles; many were decorated, many never came back, and all who returned were again shunned by the government, which took much of the land it gave to veterans from Indigenous Australians. Indigenous veterans were often deprived of their promised pay and excluded from RSL groups. These soldiers’ contributions are an incredibly important part of Australian Indigenous history, and only beginning to be acknowledged on a wide scale in the 21st century. Many fallen indigenous soldiers “remain buried thousands of miles away from their ancestral homes,” and re-burial ceremonies represent an important next step toward honoring their service.

The final document included in Black Diggers is an email sent by Indigenous Army serviceman named Col. Watego, whose family also has a long history of military service. He thanks the producer, director, and actors for the production, which he considers important in six ways. First, it honors and “exemplifies the character of our Indigenous heroes,” who enlisted out of a protective instinct for Australia—a “Warrior Spirit”—and not out of political motives or a desire for glory. Secondly, the play recognizes the horrible conditions that Indigenous soldiers faced in the war, something the government failed to do—and this failure contributed to the prevalence of PTSD among Indigenous World War One veterans.

Thirdly, Col. Watego continues, the play shows Australians how much Indigenous people were willing to sacrifice for their country. Fourthly, it shows the racial equality within the ADF, and fifthly, it shows how soldiers’ absence and return impacted their families. Finally, the play “tells a very, very positive yarn or story of how much WE ALL HAVE GROWN in our journey to the present,” and how much Indigenous soldiers’ contributions have contributed to that growth.