This definitive account explores the treaties made between white settlers and Aboriginal people in Australia and the different ways in which the two groups interpreted those acts of possession. Questions such as "Why were these agreements forged?""How did the Aborigines understand the terms of the agreements?" and "On what basis did whites claim to be the rightful owners of the land?" are thoroughly discussed as well as the ways the settlers rewrote history to remove mention of the destruction and displacement of the Aborigines.