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possibly unintended message that the use of this term to describe Indigenous Australians is
acceptable. After all Sturt, a well known and widely respected explorer uses the term, as seen
in Source 6.9.
Source 6.9. “The aborigines shook their spears” extract from Social studies for Queensland
schools grade 4 (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113).
While the term “savage” had been used widely in the earlier part of the twentieth century, for
example in the historical novel, Settler and savage (De Boos, 1906), the term was used less
and less by the time of this era, with some notable exceptions, such as the children’s book
The courteous savage (Durack, 1964). So, putting aside the anomaly use of the term savage,
the other terms aborigines and natives regardless of their social acceptance of the term in the
time period this textbook was written, create and sustain an anonymous, unknowable
representation of Indigenous Australians, unable to specifically identify individuals or tribal
groupings. Furthermore, the common placement of a lowercase ‘a’ rather than an uppercase
‘A’ used to describe Indigenous Australians reinforces the low level of importance attributed
to this group.
A topic that emerges in the discourse of violence is demonstrated in the story of Sturt’s
exploration of the Murray, which reads like an adventure story, with the focus of the narrative
on violent skirmishes avoided. When detailing the particular skirmish avoided in this sample
narrative, there is a focus on highlighting the explorer as the ‘voice of reason’ using
negotiation or relationship building skills in order to avoid conflict. For example,
During his journey down the river, Sturt met tribes of aborigines who made their
camps on the banks of the stream. He was always kind to the natives and often gave
them presents. It was fortunate for him that he had won the friendship of these
people. (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 113, emphasis added)
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