PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...
PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ... PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...
in Source 6.28, they are both male, dressed in traditional attire of only cloth around their groins. Both are holding a spear, with one standing and the other sitting on a rock. The natural environment behind them is a mountain range and by their feet is wild grass. The text under the picture (of all five representations of people) reads: “The clearing in the bush has widened across a continent of three million square miles in a pageant of colonisation unrivalled in history, and there a freedom beyond Phillip’s dreams has strangely come to pass” (Department of Education, 1954/1959/1960, p. 5). Interestingly, besides this image, there is no mention of Indigenous Australians anywhere else in the textbook. No name is attributed to the Indigenous men, therefore portraying Indigenous Australians as a whole, rather than any individuals specifically. However, as the other people in the image are also anonymous, this is not really a significant point to make, in this example. However, it is indicative of general portrayals of Indigenous Australians in school curriculum in this era, particularly in images. Source 6.28. “Australia” extract from Social Studies for Queensland schools grade 8. (Department of Education, 1954/1959/1960, p. 5) As though recognizing the gaps in the school curriculum that must be followed by textbook authors for their books to be both published by a publishing company and purchased by schools for widespread use in the classroom, Australia and the Near North (Connole, 1962) introduces the topic, “The Australian Aborigines” (see Source 6.29). Source 6.29 “The Australian Aborigines” extract from Australia and the Near North (Connole 1962, p. 213) 248
However, even despite the use of the phrase “…ironical…added as an appendix…” (Connole, 1962, p. 213), evidence that the author considers history involving Indigenous Australians to be outside of the mainstream is evident through the concluding sentence which reads: “…as a nation we were barely conscious until recently of any national debt that we owed to these ‘Old Australians’” (Connole, 1962, p. 213); supporting a view of Indigenous Australians as external to mainstream national history, as a type of exotic ‘Other’. Demonstrating contradictions in Indigenous representations, and in an example from the latter years of the era, After the first hundred years (Palmer & MacLeod, 1969) presents conflicting messages about Indigenous Australians and in particular their placement in Australian history. These contradictions are evident in the following ways, in the first three chapters, terms used to describe Indigenous Australians include, for example, “savage blacks” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, p. 28); a comparison with monkeys through quote (that is not contextualised) from an unnamed critic “‘You cannot write an epic on the Australian blacks; you might as well compose a sonnet on a monkey,’” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, p. 29); and “dark people” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, p. 40). Yet later in the textbook in the almost five pages that make up the bulk of content on Indigenous Australians, a significantly different tone is taken. Here, the perspective articulated is one of paternalism that concentrates on highlighting the differences between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians, rather than overt racism, with naming being, for example, “aboriginals” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, pp. 183, 184, 185). An anomaly to these descriptions is the frequent categorisation of Indigenous people, according to level of indigeneity, which is determined, in this case (and certainly common during this era) by terms such as “full-blood” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, pp. 183, 184, 185); “mixed blood” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, p. 183); “half-caste”, and “half-and quarter-caste” (Palmer and MacLeod, 1969, p. 186). Consistent throughout the textbook is the lack of naming Indigenous Australians as individuals, with an exception being artist, Albert Namatjira and actor Robert Tudawali (also known as Bobby Wilson). Otherwise, Indigenous Australians are represented as anonymous masses, with no individual or tribal identity attributed. Despite mention of their traditional living arrangements in a tribal community, even Namatjira’s and Tudawali’s traditional family groups are not included beyond the naming of Namatjira’s tribe. Overall, this textbook probably is a reflection, albeit not a very progressive one, of the rise in profile of Indigenous Australians issues in the wider community during this era; with a mixture of contradictions, 249
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in Source 6.28, they are both male, dressed in traditional attire <strong>of</strong> only cloth around their<br />
groins. Both are holding a spear, with one standing and the other sitting on a rock. The<br />
natural environment behind them is a mountain range and by their feet is wild grass. The text<br />
under the picture (<strong>of</strong> all five representations <strong>of</strong> people) reads: “The clearing in the bush has<br />
widened across a continent <strong>of</strong> three million square miles in a pageant <strong>of</strong> colonisation<br />
unrivalled in history, and there a freedom beyond Phillip’s dreams has strangely come to<br />
pass” (Department <strong>of</strong> Education, 1954/1959/1960, p. 5). Interestingly, besides this image,<br />
there is no mention <strong>of</strong> Indigenous Australians anywhere else in the textbook. No name is<br />
attributed to the Indigenous men, therefore portraying Indigenous Australians as a whole,<br />
rather than any individuals specifically. However, as the other people in the image are also<br />
anonymous, this is not really a significant point to make, in this example. However, it is<br />
indicative <strong>of</strong> general portrayals <strong>of</strong> Indigenous Australians in school curriculum in this era,<br />
particularly in images.<br />
Source 6.28. “Australia” extract from Social Studies for Queensland schools grade<br />
8. (Department <strong>of</strong> Education, 1954/1959/1960, p. 5)<br />
As though recognizing the gaps in the school curriculum that must be followed by textbook<br />
authors for their books to be both published by a publishing company and purchased by<br />
schools for widespread use in the classroom, Australia and the Near North (Connole, 1962)<br />
introduces the topic, “The Australian Aborigines” (see Source 6.29).<br />
Source 6.29 “The Australian Aborigines” extract from Australia and the Near<br />
North (Connole 1962, p. 213)<br />
248
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