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PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...

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Source 6.19. Batman and Fawkner extract from Social studies for Queensland<br />

schools grade 7 (Department <strong>of</strong> Education, 1960/1963, p. 48).<br />

The following passage, from Australia: Colony to nation (Dunlop & Pike, 1963) provides an<br />

example <strong>of</strong> Indigenous representations missing in history that really positions Indigenous<br />

Australians as a type <strong>of</strong> subaltern ‘Other’ on the fringe <strong>of</strong> History curriculum content. For<br />

example, there is no mention <strong>of</strong> Wylie and his contribution.<br />

Pushing northward the little part was barred by sand Spinifex desert. With their<br />

strength sadly reduced through shortage <strong>of</strong> water and rations, they were finally<br />

turned back, after an encounter with warlike aborigines on June 26, 1860, having<br />

reached a point 1,500 miles north <strong>of</strong> Adelaide. (Dunlop & Pike, 1963, p. 116)<br />

Furthermore, this point can be supported by another paragraph in this textbook which draws<br />

on the story <strong>of</strong> Burke and Wills and the rescue <strong>of</strong> King. The narrative reinforces the point <strong>of</strong><br />

Indigenous Australians being on the fringe or periphery <strong>of</strong> curriculum, reading:<br />

Instead <strong>of</strong> following Brahe, Burke persuaded Wills and King to strike for Mount<br />

Hopeless. After aimless wanderings they returned to the depot. Burke and Wills<br />

perished miserably, though King—the sole survivor <strong>of</strong> their small party—was<br />

eventually rescued by Howitt’s relief expedition. (Dunlop & Pike, 1963, p. 118)<br />

To conclude, as the examples throughout this section demonstrate, primarily the<br />

representations <strong>of</strong> Indigenous Australians within stories <strong>of</strong> the early explorers are included<br />

not as integral to the narrative, but rather as on the periphery, as a way to inject some aspect<br />

<strong>of</strong> drama into a story. The larger implications <strong>of</strong> exploration on issues such as Indigenous<br />

cultures, way <strong>of</strong> life, connection to land, and the right to live peacefully are not taken into<br />

account, nor mentioned, with the narrative not linked to any context outside <strong>of</strong> the immediate<br />

story <strong>of</strong> explorers. So, if Indigenous Australians were not included in the narrative, it would<br />

neither add nor take away from the overall story, save some drama.<br />

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