Interpretations

Almost everything on this website is a primary document -- that is, it is either: 1) a document produced at the time of the events, 2) a document produced later by someone who was involved at the time, or 3) a written version of an oral history which has been passed down since the time of the event. The exceptions are the “Cast of Characters” and the “Timeline”, which have been written just for the website to help orient you, as well as the interpretations accessible from this page. These exceptions are secondary sources.

This section contains essays written in 2004 by historians, including aboriginal ones, who have studied the war. Their interpretations are based on the same evidence as yours, since they used the same documents. You will find that they come to different conclusions.

You have the advantage over most readers of history because you can test the interpretations against the evidence, and you can critically evaluate the interpretations based on your own conclusions.

Teachers can request access to the experts' interpretations of the mysteries that have been created for each site. We have made this section password-protected to encourage students to come up with their own interpretations of primary documents, rather than relying on other people's analyses. To access the Interpretations just fill in our online registration form and await your password.