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Definition of "blackbirding" [black•bird•ing]

  • The practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders, or kanakas, for sale as cheap labour. (noun)

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Use "blackbirding" in a sentence
  • "I had had some experience in blackbirding before I went pearling in the Paumotus."
  • "They made little progress at first, because "blackbirding" -- the often brutal recruitment of laborers for the sugar plantations in Queensland and Fiji -- led to a series of reprisals and massacres."
  • ""Following the importation of workers from the Pacific islands in the late 1800s, often known as 'blackbirding', successive Australian Governments have repeatedly rejected calls to allow any form of unskilled labour immigration," he said."
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