The remarkable life history of outstanding Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson has never before been told. In Paddy's Road, Kevin Keeffe brings us stories of Dodson's life woven from interviews, government archives and family stories. This source material and Keeffe's social and political analysis uniquely describes the life and the political, cultural and spiritual beliefs of Australia's first Aboriginal Catholic priest, land rights activist, Royal Commissioner and founder of Australia's reconciliation movement. From the moment of colonization in the Kimberleys to the era of native title, from pearling to pastoralism, through missions and institutions, this Aboriginal family has survived an uncaring and intrusive system. Dodson's grandparents were denied their inheritance, his mother forcibly relocated, his father imprisoned and his siblings detained. His family was forced to flee from the laws and systems set up to control their lives, to the Northern Territory, only to meet tragedy and