noun
- the historical practice of recruiting or kidnapping Pacific Islander laborers, often through deception or coercion, to work on plantations
Usage: historical; refers to 19th and early 20th century labor practices
Examples
- Blackbirding was common in Queensland’s sugar plantations during the 1860s.
- Many Pacific Islanders were victims of blackbirding operations.
- The practice of blackbirding involved deceptive recruitment tactics.
- Australian authorities eventually banned blackbirding in 1904.
- Historians study blackbirding as a form of labor exploitation.
- The legacy of blackbirding affected many island communities.