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Source 6.15. Batman Treaty and Governor Bourke extract from Social studies for
Queensland schools grade 4 (Department of Education, 1954/1963/ 1966, p. 83).
A term used consistently to describe Indigenous Australians throughout this narrative is
“natives” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 82, 83). In addition “chiefs”
(Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 83) is used to describe who Batman dealt with
in negotiating his so-called Treaty. Even though Batman’s Treaty with the local Indigenous
population forms the focus of this narrative, very little content is directed at them; instead
they are passive players, neither named nor their perspective heard. Regarding the negotiating
and signing of the Treaty, knowledge is presented as unproblematic with no attempt in this
textbook to engage students to think whether the Indigenous tribe (who did not speak the
same language as Batman) actually understood that they were signing a treaty and the
consequences of Batman’s actions. Whilst later in the narrative the Governor is reported as
saying “A treaty!...Nonsense! The natives could not read what was on any paper you gave
them to sign. Therefore, it is worthless” (Department of Education, 1954/1963/1966, p. 83),
there is no explicit articulation of the role played by the Indigenous tribe in this event. So, the
underlying ideology present in this narrative is that even when the event directly relates to
actions they are involved in, Indigenous Australians are not an important, voiced part of
history.
In high school, students once again come in contact with Batman, with two of the textbooks
containing information about him. The first is Australia and the near north: The
Commonwealth in the modern world volume 2 (Connole, 1962) and the second, Landmarks:
A history of Australia to the present day (Blackmore, Cotter & Elliott, 1969). The first text is
an example of Indigenous Australians not being included in the History curriculum, with
Source 6.16 discussing the early actions of Batman excluding any discussion of a treaty.
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