Sacred trees are a cornerstone of our national identity. They transcend simple economics and sit at the centre of the sacred — sentinels in ceremony, birthing and burials.
Submerged in the waters off Western Australia lies an ancient site home to Aboriginal people thousands of years ago, when sea levels were lower than they are today.
There are many questions about the inquiry into the destruction of an Aboriginal heritage site, including how it will be conducted, what will be publicly disclosed and who will be protected.
Uncle Fred Deeral as little old man in the film The Message, by Zakpage, to be shown at the National Museum of Australia in April. Nik Lachajczak of Zakpage
An honest reckoning with Captain Cook’s legacy won’t heal things overnight. But it’s a start
The Conversation41,4 MB(download)
The impact of 1770 has never eased for Aboriginal people. It was a collision of catastrophic proportions.
The government intends to destroy Djab Wurrung sacred trees and sites to upgrade the Western Highway at the same time as it seeks heritage status for the Eastern Freeway.
Allies Decolonising/gofundme
The Victorian government plans to destroy trees and sites sacred to Djab Warrung people to make way for the Western Highway at the same time as it seeks heritage listing for the Eastern Freeway.
We have so much more to learn about Australia.
Shutterstock/Lev Savitskiy
Jo McDonald, The University of Western Australia e Peter Veth, The University of Western Australia
They were looking to study rock art at a remote desert site but what they found showed people had been using the place almost since the first people arrived in Australia.
Humans would have first seen Kata Tjuta very shortly after arriving in Australia 50,000 years ago.
Alan Cooper
Aboriginal Australians have effectively been on their country for as long as modern human populations have been outside of Africa. We have a limit as to how long ago that was: around 50,000 years.
The battle for the Franklin River runs far deeper than simply providing the backdrop for a political tug-of-war.
PETER DOMBROVSKIS/ LIZ DOMBROVSKIS/AAP
Essays on Air: how archaeology helped save the Franklin River
The Conversation23,2 MB(download)
The battle to save the Franklin River - an exhilarating story of politics, cultural heritage and passionate environmentalism - captivated the nation in 1983.
Aboriginal demonstration in Brisbane in 2014.
Shutterstock/MWHunt
A damning inquiry has revealed the extent of the abuse suffered by British children sent abroad between 1920 and 1970. But it skirts around Aboriginal cultural genocide.
The Madjedbebe excavation in the Northern Territory.
Dominic O Brien/Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation
Despite improvements to their content over time, secondary school history textbooks still imply that ‘real’ Australians are white.
The Tent Embassy in Canberra has for decades been symbolic of the tensions in Australian cities about recognition, reconciliation and land justice.
Dylan Wood/AAP
New DNA research working with Indigenous Australians is answering many of the questions about when and where the First Australians emerged many thousands of years ago.
The original excavation of Mungo Man, found near Lake Mungo in southwestern New South Wales, Australia.
Wilfred Shawcross.
Research first published in 2001 has been used to question of whether Aboriginal People were the First Australians. So why not re-test those results with improved techniques and equipment?
David Gulpilil as Jagamarra Jurunba, Mark Weaver as Bellyup, Dougie McCale as George and Cameron Wallaby as Pete in Satellite Boy.
A Satellite Films production Photo by Matt Nettheim SAB
For the Barkindji people, the Darling River has been a symbol of Aboriginal survival since colonial times. Now, the once busy NSW town of Wilcannia is in danger of losing its water.