Aboriginal Australians (Australian experience) [Paperback]

Richard Broome (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1865087556 | ISBN-13: 978-1865087559 | Publication Date: September 1, 2002 | Edition: 3rd

A comprehensive history of black-white encounters in Australia since colonization, tracing the continuing Aboriginal struggle to move from the margins of colonial society to a more central place in modern Australia. Fully updated, this new edition explains the land rights struggle since Mabo, the Hindmarsh Island case, and debates over the "stolen generation". In 2000, Cathy Freeman stood on a podium, ready to light the Olympic cauldron, at the climax of the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Games. Throughout the ceremony, Aboriginal talent was on display and in the night sky, a mystic creature from the rich world of Aboriginal art rose above the stadium. Tens of millions of TV viewers worldwide witnessed Aboriginality as an important part of Australia's identity. But what of the experience of the first Australians since the Europeans arrived? Was the impression created at that Opening Ceremony a genuine reflection of black Australia's place in society? In the creation of any new society, there are winners and losers. So it was with Australia as it grew through invasion, settlement and development from a colonial outpost to an affluent industrial society. This book tells the history of Australia from the standpoint of the original Australians - those who lost most in the country's early colonial struggle for power. Surveying two centuries of Aboriginal-European encounters, it reveals what white Australia lost through unremitting colonial invasion and tells the story of Aboriginal survival through resistance and accommodation. It traces the continuing Aboriginal struggle to move from the margins of colonial society to a more central place in modern Australia. This updated edition explains the land rights struggle since Mabo, the Hindmarsh Island case, debates over the "stolen generation", "sorry", and reconciliation, and the recent experience of Aboriginal Australia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book is an excellent educational text... I would argue that this book is a must read' for all teacher education students, for anyone teaching in Australian schools and for all those who work with Indigenous Australians.' (JAS Review of Books)

About the Author

Richard Broome teaches history at La Trobe University where he specialises in nineteenth and twentieth century Australian history at first year and specialist units in Australian and Aboriginal history at second and third year levels. He has authored five books and many articles on Australian history and researched local, sports, immigrant and popular culture history. His current research is on a history of Aboriginal people in Victoria, for which he won a three-year ARC grant to commence in 2001. His interests include his family, backyard pioneering, running and golf.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin; 3rd edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1865087556
• ISBN-13: 978-1865087559
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,647,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A standard in the field, July 7, 2009

By 

Glen O'Brien (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aboriginal Australians (Australian experience) (Paperback)

This is the standard authoritative text on the first Australians, followed up by the also excellent Aboriginal Victorians (2005). Richard Broome was my postgrad co-ordinator at La Trobe. He is a scholar and a gentleman, highly respected in the Aboriginal community for his sensitivity and respect. His chapter on "Mixed Missionary Blessings" gives a balanced account of the work of missionaries. Europeans usually held one of two views about the Aborigines, both of which were misguided. The educated minority thought of them romantically as "noble savages" and the uneducated majority judged them to be ignorant savages. Instead of seeing them as fellow humans they were misjudged either as angels or devils, a poor basis for mutual regard and understanding. (p.26) Cook was under orders to claim possession of any inhabited land only "with the consent of the natives." However, by a narrow definition of "inhabited" as meaning "settled and cultivated," the new lands he discovered were declared to be terra nullius, (an empty land), a legal fiction only recently overturned. Since the Aborigines were few in number, did not wear clothes, did not engage in agriculture, had no built architecture or obvious form of government their land was appropriated by the British with, it seems, little pangs of guilt. "So it was that while the Native Americans or the Maoris of New Zealand who built villages, tilled the soil and had chiefs were offered treaties and some recognition of rights by the British, the Aborigines were not given any of these rights. This fact of dispossession was the crux of the future race relations problems in Australia, for it meant that injustice was sanctioned by the state and there could be little possibility of any fruitful human relations being formed with the Aborigines." (pp. 26-7). This book is highly recommended by all seeking an understanding of the "first Australians."