Provides a brief history of the impact of settlement on Aboriginal people in Queensland before documenting the violence experienced by women and their families in the contemporary Cherbourg community, which comprises diverse clan groups; argues that these "Murri women" face additional problems that men do not have to deal with and shows how the absence of a male role model has created problems for children, ledaing to boys' early contact with the criminal justice system; reserve culture; inter-tribal conflict; masculinity and violence; includes case examples and histories