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Listed under:  Society  >  Culture  >  Regional culture  >  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples  >  Aboriginal peoples
Audio

May O'Brien reflects on becoming an activist, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of an interview with Western Australian Aboriginal educator and author May O'Brien. She recalls beginning secondary school in Perth in 1949 when she was aged 17, and how she went on to become a teacher. She also relates how she campaigned to improve education for all Indigenous children ...

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Jimmy Little outlines his views on racism, 2008

This is an edited sound recording, from July 2008, of Indigenous singer-songwriter Jimmy Little. Little tells how his parents lived on an Aboriginal mission, with their movements very restricted. He also recalls going to a movie theatre where people were separated by race, but says examples of racism such as these were ...

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John Collins recalls illustrations by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), 2007

This is an edited sound recording of John Collins, former managing director of the Brisbane-based book publisher Jacaranda Press, recalling the way the Indigenous poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (then Kath Walker) produced illustrations for her 1980 book 'Father sky and mother earth'. He describes how a casual remark led to her ...

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Brian Clouston describes the success of 'We are going', 2007

This is an edited sound recording of Brian Clouston, the founder of Brisbane-based Jacaranda Press, discussing the publication in 1964 of 'We are going', a book of poetry by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (known at the time as Kath Walker). Clouston describes the 'phenomenal' success of the book, and outlines why he believes it was ...

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Distribution of blankets to Indigenous people in Brisbane, 1863

This pen-and-wash sketch, dated 24 May 1863, shows the distribution of blankets to Indigenous men and women in Brisbane, Queensland. A group of Indigenous people, mostly men, are waiting in line or sitting off to the side as police distribute blankets in front of the Police Magistrate's Court. There appear to be two mounted ...

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Indigenous Australian men with weapons, c1817

This is a 17.7 cm x 27.8 cm watercolour of ten men carrying spears, spear throwers and shields as they walk along a dirt path. Some have clubs tucked into loincloths. Another group of five men can be seen further down the grassed hill.

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Indigenous Australians hunting kangaroos, c1817

This is a 17.7 cm x 27.7 cm watercolour of a hunter poised to throw a spear at one of a number of kangaroos; he is lying on his front behind a fallen tree, his head and chest raised and his right arm stretching back ready to throw the spear from a spear thrower. Four other hunters wait behind trees in the distance with ...

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Indigenous Australians spearing eels, c1817

This is a 17.6 cm x 27.7 cm watercolour of two men spearing fish in a river. One has caught an eel on his four-pronged spear. The landscape is heavily vegetated with mountains in the distance and there are rocky outcrops on either side of the river. Large trees frame the image.

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Indigenous Australians hunting black swans, c1817

This is a 17.5 cm x 27.7 cm watercolour of Indigenous Australian people hunting black swans among reeds near the water's edge of a large river. One man is holding a bird that is trying to escape and three people are spearing birds. At least four other people are almost fully obscured by the reeds. The river is surrounded ...

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Indigenous Australian man, Ourou-mare ('Bulldog'), 1802

This is a colour print of a half-figure portrait drawn by the French artist Nicolas-Martin Petit somewhere near Port Jackson (Sydney), between 20 June and 17 November 1802. It shows a man named as Ourou-mare, said to be of the Gwea-gal tribe, and known to the British settlers as 'Bulldog'. He has short, curly hair and a ...

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Indigenous Australian man warding off spears, c1817

This is a 17.7 cm x 27.7 cm watercolour showing an Indigenous Australian man holding a shield in front of himself, with fallen spears at his feet, as he faces a group of 14 men. Some are holding spears, apparently watching and waiting, while one is about to throw his spear at the man with the shield. Another group of 11 ...

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Exploring the Swan River, 1827

This is a painting on canvas called 'Captain Stirling's exploring party 50 miles up the Swan River, Western Australia, March, 1827'. The painting, measuring 29.2 cm x 36.0 cm, shows a tree-lined section of the Swan River, near present-day Perth. There are two boats: on one of them, men in British navy uniforms are lowering ...

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Simon, Indigenous Australian from Victoria, c1858

This is a hand-coloured photographic print of an Indigenous Australian from Victoria, taken in about 1858. Measuring 24 cm x 19 cm, it is entitled 'SIMON. An Australian Aborigine of the Yarra Yarra tribe which opposed the landing of Batman 1835'. The man is pictured with a spear in one hand and a wooden club in the other. ...

Interactive

Biography: Federation people: Richard O'Connor

Investigate Richard O'Connor's role in the move towards Federation. Examine two different types of biographies of O'Connor: one short and the other more detailed. Inspect examples of how he was visually depicted in his time. This learning object is one in a series of objects in the 'Biography: Federation people' series.

Audio

Marion Scrymgour talks about her mixed sense of identity, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of a Northern Territory politician, Marion Scrymgour, talking about her Tiwi and central Australian backgrounds. She says that all her life she has considered herself to be a Tiwi Islander, like her mother. However, she has also recently 'come to accept that I've got this other different ...

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Brian Manning recalls the Wave Hill walk-off, 2007

This is an edited sound recording of Indigenous rights activist Brian Manning talking about the Wave Hill walk-off in the Northern Territory in 1966, when Gurindji workers on the Wave Hill cattle station went on strike. Manning tells how he was involved in organising the walk-off, assuring the Gurindji that, unlike previous ...

Audio

Bonita Mabo recalls Eddie Mabo’s land rights battle, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Bonita Mabo, widow of Indigenous land rights activist Eddie Mabo. She recalls how her husband declared he would fight for recognition as the owner of his traditional land on Mer Island, also known as Murray Island, in the Torres Strait after learning it was officially regarded as crown ...

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Alf Turner remembers his grandfather, William Cooper, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of Alf Turner, grandson of Indigenous activist William Cooper. Turner describes moving to Melbourne to live with his grandparents in about 1936 in the house then used for meetings of the Australian Aborigines' League (AAL). He recalls Cooper's frustration at the lack of results from the ...

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Marion Scrymgour discusses representing Indigenous men, 2008

This is an edited sound recording of a Northern Territory politician, Marion Scrymgour, talking in July 2008 about representing the views of Indigenous men after she became the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the NT Legislative Assembly in 2001. Scrymgour says that she seeks to empower Indigenous men to take responsibility ...

Interactive

Show and tell: that cat

Watch a short cartoon about a cat chasing a bird. Select noun groups, verb groups and phrases to create sentences and build a basic factual recount. Rearrange the word groups to create the best order in the sentences. Who was involved? What did they do? When, where or how did they do it? Add adjectives and adverbs to make ...