PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...
PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ... PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...
killed by Indigenous Australians; Eyre being the only survivor. What is completely omitted though is that both Kennedy and Eyre had Indigenous companions who stayed with them through the violence, assisted them, remained loyal to the explorers afterwards and turned their back on their traditional way of life, and in the case of Eyre’s companion, Wylie, refused requests by two other Indigenous men to leave Eyre and travel with them after the murder of Baxter. Yet, this is not mentioned anywhere in the narrative (and Jacky Jacky only once further in the textbook, see Dunlop & Pike, 1963, p. 115). It is as if neither Jacky Jacky (Kennedy’s companion) nor Wiley (Eyre’s companion) existed, despite the significant role they played in this period of exploration. Source 6.8. “Sturt menaced by the natives”, a half page picture from Social studies for Queensland schools grade 4 featured in the narrative about Sturt’s exploration (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113) Although an expedition headed by Sturt ended peacefully, throughout the narrative, there are distinctive discourses of violence prevalent. The image accompanying the narrative in Social studies for Queensland schools grade 4 (see Source 6.8) is presented as black and white, possibly reproduced from a colour oil painting. The overall scene is of large river, at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers with trees around the river banks. In the foreground are seven explorers in a small rowing boat. One man is standing and pointing a gun, and the others have their guns with them. The background shows a crowd of Indigenous men dressed in traditional clothes adorned with war paint and waving spears above their heads. Some are in the water, as though they are walking towards the boat. 210
The two groups in the picture, the explorers and the Indigenous men, are shown as oppositional, as enemies, positioned on opposite extremes of the image, with the explorers in the front left of the image (immediate foreground) and group of Indigenous men in the back right of the image (far background). The perspective of this image is from an explorer’s view, watching the violent clash begin. By having the image painted from this perspective, it is as if the ‘observer’ is part of the party of explorers, creating sympathy for the explorers in meeting the aggression of the attacking Indigenous men. As a result, the actions of the explorers in using gun powder to protect themselves, is legitimized. The caption of the image indicates that it is the Indigenous men who are the perpetrators of violence, reading: “Sturt Menaced by the Natives” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113). This image is typical of those found throughout this textbook, with the only visual representations of Indigenous Australians portrayed as either perpetrators of violence or in their traditional tribal 11 lifestyles. School students were provided with a clear message that the only visual representations of Indigenous people are as formidable, physically imposing, weapon carrying perpetrators or actors of violence and as belonging to a world separate from their own. In the images, Indigenous Australians are dressed in traditional clothes with face paint and traditional weapons. Regarding specific terms used in Social studies for Queensland schools grade 4, “savages” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113) is used only in the context of primary source documents; however this is not contextualised at all. So, although the author of this textbook does not use this term, instead opting for the (at the time) more progressive and socially acceptable terms “natives” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 114) and “aborigines” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113), by not clearly articulating or contextualising the use of the term savage, students are receiving the non-articulated, and 11 My use of the term tribe and tribal throughout this dissertation (and outside of primary source documents) is not applied in the colonial sense of the term, described in part by Davidson as ...since the dominant, evolutionist theory of the time placed ‘tribal societies’ low on the ladder of human development, it seemed inevitable, and right, that they should fall under the control of developed Western nations. The dominance of structural functionalism in the anthropology of the colonial period maintained the key importance of clearly bounded tribal groups as the unit of analysis. (2004, p. 209) Instead, it is used as a convenient and not irregular term to group Indigenous Australians in common family (kins and moiety systems) and geographical areas in a ‘traditional’ (meaning pre-colonial) environment and cultural way of living. It is also noted, that aligned with the work of 19 th century African intellectuals, identity construction also occurs outside of tribal boundaries (Davidson, 2004). 211
- Page 174 and 175: stands for the country itself and t
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- Page 186 and 187: Although often mediated through the
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- Page 198 and 199: Furthermore, the use of primary sou
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- Page 210 and 211: (b) Australian Aborigines. (Departm
- Page 212 and 213: However, due to the wide distributi
- Page 214 and 215: matter in a fresh and interesting w
- Page 216 and 217: textbooks published in the early to
- Page 218 and 219: Source 6.3. A sample project sheet
- Page 220 and 221: narratives of so-named British expl
- Page 222 and 223: This image, like many of the narrat
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- Page 228 and 229: Source 6.10. “Natives” extract
- Page 230 and 231: Source 6.11. “King was saved” e
- Page 232 and 233: Indigenous Australians is linked wi
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- Page 236 and 237: Source 6.15. Batman Treaty and Gove
- Page 238 and 239: Indigenous Australian interactions
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- Page 246 and 247: 6.5 Category 2: Frontier Conflicts
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- Page 256 and 257: emoval of the captured aboriginals
- Page 258 and 259: Some emotion is attributed to this
- Page 260 and 261: 6.6.4 Discourses of criminality. Vi
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killed by Indigenous Australians; Eyre being the only survivor. What is completely omitted<br />
though is that both Kennedy and Eyre had Indigenous companions who stayed with them<br />
through the violence, assisted them, remained loyal to the explorers afterwards and turned<br />
their back on their traditional way <strong>of</strong> life, and in the case <strong>of</strong> Eyre’s companion, Wylie,<br />
refused requests by two other Indigenous men to leave Eyre and travel with them after the<br />
murder <strong>of</strong> Baxter. Yet, this is not mentioned anywhere in the narrative (and Jacky Jacky only<br />
once further in the textbook, see Dunlop & Pike, 1963, p. 115). It is as if neither Jacky Jacky<br />
(Kennedy’s companion) nor Wiley (Eyre’s companion) existed, despite the significant role<br />
they played in this period <strong>of</strong> exploration.<br />
Source 6.8. “Sturt menaced by the natives”, a half page picture from Social studies<br />
for Queensland schools grade 4 featured in the narrative about Sturt’s exploration<br />
(Department <strong>of</strong> Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113)<br />
Although an expedition headed by Sturt ended peacefully, throughout the narrative, there are<br />
distinctive discourses <strong>of</strong> violence prevalent. The image accompanying the narrative in Social<br />
studies for Queensland schools grade 4 (see Source 6.8) is presented as black and white,<br />
possibly reproduced from a colour oil painting. The overall scene is <strong>of</strong> large river, at the<br />
junction <strong>of</strong> the Murray and Darling Rivers with trees around the river banks. In the<br />
foreground are seven explorers in a small rowing boat. One man is standing and pointing a<br />
gun, and the others have their guns with them. The background shows a crowd <strong>of</strong> Indigenous<br />
men dressed in traditional clothes adorned with war paint and waving spears above their<br />
heads. Some are in the water, as though they are walking towards the boat.<br />
210
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