blackbirding
(UK, Australia, New Zealand) The practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders, or kanakas, for sale as cheap labour.
Definitions
(UK, Australia, New Zealand) The practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders, or kanakas, for sale as cheap labour.
Burns Philp was to incur public odium in the most notorious case in Queensland concerning blackbirding.
“Once the person left their support system, the "employer" became the captor. • The "Blackbirding" Trick: Ships would fly friendly flags and invite locals on board for feasts or trade.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- 83%
A person involved in 'blackbirding' — the practice of kidnapping or coercing Pacific Islander peoples into forced labour on Australian and other colonial plantations in the 19th century, a form of effectively enslaved labour. Also used historically for those who caught escaped enslaved people in the antebellum American South. The term covers both the person and the ship used in the trade.
- 78%
(slang, derogatory, historical, among slavers and pirates) A native of the South Pacific islands.
- 70%
A person involved in blackbirding .
- 69%
A ship used for blackbirding; a slaver.
- 66%
(US) A slavecatcher.