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5.9 Intersections of British Heritages and Indigenous Representations
Although the analysis focus of this era is the British heritages exemplar topic, rather than
Indigenous representations, the small amount of times when the two exemplar topics intersect
are included here so that a connection is able to be made between eras. Binaries are present in
the socio-political discourses of the time, through for example (and as briefly mentioned in
Chapter 1: Introduction), fiction novels such as Settler and Savage: One hundred years ago
in Australia (De Boos, 1906). Whether the exemplar topics are also represented this way in
school curriculum forms the focus of analysis here. In the case of the example of the novel
mentioned, settler is code for white European (usually from Great Britain) taking up
residence in Australia; and savage is code for Indigenous Australian living in a perceived
inferior tradition lifestyle environment.
Of interest, this type of categorizing of groups has occurred in school curriculum across
nation states, particularly when a dominant and a subjugated group are intentionally
constructed. In discussing the way Columbus and white exploration is taught in United States
schools, for example, hooks writes:
We were taught that the Indians would have conquered and dominated white
explorers if they could have but they were simply not strong or smart enough.
Embedded in all these teachings was the assumption that it was the whiteness of
these explorers in the ‘New World’ that gave them the greatest power. The word
‘whiteness’ was never used. The key word, the one that synonymous with whiteness,
was ‘civilization.’ Hence, we were made to understand at a young age that whatever
cruelties were done to the indigenous peoples of this country, the ‘Indians,’ was
necessary to bring the great gift of civilization. Domination, it became clear in our
young minds, was central to the project of civilization. And if civilization was good
and necessary despite the costs, then that had to mean domination was equally good.
(1994, p. 199)
5.9.1 Discourses of progress.
Progress, when included in school curriculum, is seen as explicitly working towards
betterment, which is code for goodness of nations and individuals within that nation, often
coupled with patriotism. This is clearly a conservative, Whig version of history presented to
school students, representing national history as a continual line of upward progression. The
textbooks portray Great Britain as the only nation that identifies its mistakes and moves
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