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animals and leaf mould from the deciduous trees, cultivated crops could scarcely
thrive. (Logue et al., 1965, p. 267-268)
Therefore, although alternative Indigenous knowledges are not presented, by not negatively
judging Indigenous lifestyles prior to British contact, this textbook is an example of
progressive discourses for this era. However, overall, this textbook presents very little
information on Indigenous Australians. Considering that the textbook is about Australia’s
involvement in world history, with two sections solely covering Australian history, there is an
expectation that more information would be provided on Indigenous topics; especially
considering the broader socio-political discourses operating at the time.
Two textbooks present consistently as alternative, resistant readings to the discourse of
primitive, instead presenting as respectful of Indigenous cultures and knowledges. Those two
textbooks Social studies for Queensland schools grade 6 (Department of Education,
1955/1966) and After the first hundred years (Palmer & MacLeod, 1969) are included for
analysis further in this chapter, in the examples of resistant and alternative readings of
Indigenous representations section.
6.7.3 Literary representations.
Of the school curriculum content analysed for this era, there are three examples of Indigenous
representations from literary sources. One is from the Queensland Readers series and the
second is from the school curriculum supplementary material, School Paper. The Queensland
Reader example is from Queensland School Reader: Grade 7, and although not an example
of representations in Australian history, strictly speaking, given that it is the only
representation of Indigenous Australians in Queensland Readers, it is included for analysis.
The poem, as it appears in Queensland School Reader: Grade 7 (Department of Public
Instruction, 1957/1960/1963/1967, pp. 168-9) is written by a non-Indigenous person from the
perspective of an observer who has a detailed insight into the thought of an un-named
Indigenous man as shown in Source 6.31.
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