The story behind the Hindmarsh Island affair. In 1994 opponents of the Hindmarsh Island bridge were facing defeat. Then an anthropologist told Aborigines who had been enlisted in the campaign: "It would be nice if there was some Women's Business." Soon after, the cult of Women's Business was created by a small group of people, including a few members of the local Ngarrindjerri tribe. All of Australia believed them - except for many other Ngarrindjerri women.This is the story of those women in their struggle to tell the truth in the face of hostility from the government, the churches, the media, and even some anthropologists. The extraordinary narrative reveals for the first time how Australian institutions that we rely on to uphold truth and tolerance sought to denigrate and dismiss a group of Aboriginal women whistle blowers. It is an important story for anyone interested in the manipulation of Aboriginal culture for political ends, and for anyone who believes that reconciliation, in the words of Ngarrindjerri woman Beryl Kropinyeri, "starts with the truth."
