There is plenty of evidence to show Australia’s Indigenous people had ways of counting big numbers, yet the myth persists they couldn’t count more than a handful of things. Why?
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.
Whose story are you telling? Neil Armfield’s The Secret River is a chronicle of colonialism.
The Sydney Theatre Company/Heidrun Löhr
The stage version of The Secret River gives us a deeper sense of our history. But can understanding the past from different perspectives help us confront the inequalities that linger in our present?
Detail of Paddy Japaljarri Sims, Warlpiri, 2003, Yanjirlpiri Jukurrpa (Star Dreaming at Yarripirlangu).
Image courtesy of the artist's estate, licensed by Warlukurlangu Artists, Yuendumu.
Who owns a Dreamtime story? The Warlpiri, like all Indigenous groups, use a complex system of kinship that regulates which people can depict, sing, dance or talk about which Dreamings.
Australia has a lesson to learn from Germany when it comes to reconciling with a shameful past. Artists are taking the lead in ‘When silence falls’, a formidable exhibition.
The figure of the ‘noble savage’ has deep roots in Australia colonialism.
Shipwreck of the Stirling Castle, John Curtis, 1838.
European invasion completely disrupted the way aboriginal Australians managed fire. Learning from Australia’s first people could help us fight fires in the future.
Adam Goodes continues to demonstrate through dignity and presence of mind, that he is an empowered Aboriginal man.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
Adam Goodes’ actions – from his celebratory dance to his decision to temporarily withdraw from the AFL – epitomise the concept of male Indigenous dignity.
Children develop based on their interactions with people, books and cultural artefacts. History textbooks could have a great deal to teach them about empathy.
From www.shutterstock.com
Last week Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm was widely reported as suggesting that people other than Aboriginal Australians may have occupied the Australian continent in the past. At a doorstop…
While plans to close ‘unsustainable remote communities’ have triggered recent protests, at the heart of the issue is the nature of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
AAP/Richard Iskov
Decisions being made from on high about the fate of remote Indigenous communities are symptomatic of a continuing imbalance in the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Legend tells that huge hollow boabs were used as prisons in north west Australia.
Robyn Jay/Flickr
An Australian senator says the evidence on who should be recognised as the First Australians is only “conjecture”. So what does the evidence really say?
Aboriginal stories dating back many thousands of years talk of a fire from the sky in an area now home to the Henbury meteorite craters, in the Northern Territory.
Flickr/Boobook
Australian rock art is under threat from both natural and cultural forces impacting on sites. But what saddens me the most is that there is so much government lethargy in Australia when it comes to documenting…
The Apology of 2008 demonstrated how symbolic actions have powerful practical consequences for reconciliation.
AAP/Julian Smith
Later this year, we expect to see draft recommendations from a parliamentary committee on recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian constitution and ensuring there is…
We still have so much to learn about Aboriginal history and culture.
Shutterstock/John Austin
Just one generation ago Australian schoolkids were taught that Aboriginal people couldn’t count beyond five, wandered the desert scavenging for food, had no civilisation, couldn’t navigate and peacefully…