• Introduction
• A way of life
• Tribute to fearless heroes

Eric Clarke spent his childhood listening to tales of his father’s days in the boxing ring.

Decades later, those unforgettable stories inspired his exploration of the forgotten history of Aboriginal tent fighters in Victoria, as part of his Master of Education by Research at RMIT University.

A member of RMIT’s Koori Cohort of Indigenous researchers, Mr Clarke recently submitted his thesis, The Blood and Sweat-Drenched Canvas: A social history of the Survival of Aboriginal Tent Fighters during the Depression and Post-War Era in Victoria.

“The genesis of this research was at the kitchen table of my childhood home in Creswick, in south-west Victoria,” he said.

“The kitchen table stories were not just about the fighting itself but also about how much fighting meant and how much was really involved.

“The stories told of an entire family of fighters – men who fought not for entertainment, but for survival for themselves and their families.

Mr Clarke, who works as the Indigenous Education Liaison Officer in RMIT’s Ngarara Willim Centre, interviewed many former Aboriginal tent boxers as part of his research, recording precious oral histories of this uniquely Australian phenomenon.

The boxing troupes drew large crowds wherever they travelled.

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