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Strait, but their numbers gradually decreased until their race became extinct” (Department of
Education, 1960/1963, p. 21, emphasis added), as though, even if the Indigenous population
had not been forcibly removed (note, the language in the textbook says “given a new home”,
Department of Education, 1960/1963, p. 21); they would have ‘died out’ anyway.
Overall, it is interesting that this topic is given any coverage at all in textbooks during this
era. Whilst Indigenous civil rights issues were gaining momentum and Indigenous
Australians achieving an increased profile in mainstream society, there is no evidence to
suggest that issues from Tasmania received widespread attention in school, especially in the
early years of this era. Even though the content provided to students regarding the Frontier
Conflicts generally and the incidents in Tasmania more specifically can be very problematic,
at least by including this information, students develop awareness of this historical event.
6.7 Category 4: Colonial and Post Colonisation Representations
6.7.1 Discourses of Indigenous Australians disjointed from or on the fringe of
mainstream history.
Demonstrating the disjointed way Indigenous Australians are included in school textbooks, a
significant portion of content represents this group as anonymous actors in Australian history,
erased from mainstream narratives. Of the textbooks analysed, seven represent Indigenous
Australians as anonymous, with the year of the era any textbook was published in not making
a notable difference. Ways in which Indigenous Australians are represented as disjointed
from mainstream history, in a way that establishes and maintains anonymity are included in
both images and written text examples, a sample of which is analysed here. Other examples
of representing Indigenous Australians as anonymous or removed from mainstream history
are included within other discourses, for example Batman’s Treaty represented in the Social
Studies for Queensland schools grade 7 (Department of Education, 1960/1963) analysed
within Category 1: Interactions with explorers.
An early example of representing Indigenous Australians as anonymous comes from an
image included in Social Studies for Queensland schools grade 8 (Department of Education,
1954/1959/1960). In a page wide banner introducing the first chapter of the textbook (see
Source 6.28), two Indigenous people make up one fifth of the image which is a line drawing
of different people from the early colonial period. The Indigenous people are positioned on
the far left, as though to signify that they are the first inhabitants of Australia. As can be seen
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