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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,
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