Provides an overview of Aboriginal history prior to European settlement and discusses and analyses issues in Aboriginal affairs from 1788 to 1995. Gives an account of the relationship between the Aboriginal people and the European institutions of state, church, industry and law, and discusses the effects of policies of protection, assimilation and self-determination, as well as laws relating to land ownership and the Mabo case. Includes references, a bibliography and an index. The author is a former superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission and in 1979 was awarded an MBE for services to the outback. His other publications include 'The Hungry Heart'.