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

Source 7.38. Discourses of a dying race extract from Case studies in Australian
history (Stewart, 1986, p. 193).
Stewart approaches the discourse of a ‘dying race’ from a policy angle. An attempt to rewrite
history by stating that these opinions were racist does not occur, demonstrating to
students an important component of an historians work, which is not to judge past events
through current understandings, values and moral perspectives. Considering Indigenous
Australians as a ‘dying race’ was, in fact, not always based on intentional racist assumptions
(as seen through the work of Daisy Bates 15 , for example). Although there are clear examples
of racist attitudes brought to the fore by the text, see for example the statement “It was the
cultural practice of many white Australians to ascribe a lower mentality and manual ability to
Aboriginal…persons, and this was used as an excuse for such treatment” (Stewart, 1986, p.
193, emphasis added); by including a primary source text by Daisy Bates (see Source 7.39), it
is demonstrated that this perspective was widespread and sometimes based on care and
compassion for Indigenous peoples living in rural and remote parts of Australia.
Source 7.39. Primary source document quoting Daisy Bates extract from Case
studies in Australian history (Stewart, 1986, p. 193)
Recognising and then effectively communicating to student readers the distinct dominant
discourses present in mainstream society and through government policies is a strength of
15
Daisy Bates worked for decades with remote Indigenous peoples, detailing languages, customs, religious
practices, education and other aspects of Indigenous Australian lives. She lived in traditional tribal communities
with Aboriginals in order to gain an insight into their lifestyles, and, although not formally trained as one, is
arguably Australia’s most well known early anthropologist.
335