Tracker Patten
By John T. Patten John James Patten, known as Jack Patten, was born in the Snowy Mountains of Victoria at Corryong in 1874. He was the eldest son of John Patten, a man for...
Koori History - Aboriginal History of South Eastern Australia
Cleverman – The First Aboriginal Superhero?
“I wanted to create a superhero for my son,” says Ryan Griffen, the creator of ABC TV (Australia) / Sundance (USA) co-production of Cleverman. Set in a dystopian future, Cleverman is a new television series...
Were Aboriginal Australians Nomadic: Fact or Fiction?
One of the first ‘facts’ commonly taught when it comes to Aboriginal culture, history and people is the notion that prior to invasion all Aboriginal people were nomadic. This is an idea that exists and flourishes, despite...
Cultural Diversity in Aboriginal Art: It’s Not Just Dots
When you turn on the TV, open a book, flick through a newspaper or browse the internet, it’s likely that if you encounter a story about Aboriginal people written by a non-Indigenous person, you’ll...
Traditional Aboriginal Clothing
Traditional Clothing Part of a common suite of assumptions which have characterised how history has been taught in Australian schools since the arrival of Europeans, is the idea that Australia’s First Peoples’ traditionally wore...
Earth Pigments: Did Aboriginal people use Blue Ochre?
Ochre is the name given to a family of natural earth pigments containing iron oxide. The name is also loosely associated with any pigment that may be derived from basic processing by the crushing...
If Everyone Cared: Margaret Tucker
Book Review Margaret Tucker’s If Everyone Cared is a book that is both significant as a matter of national record, and of personal relevance to me, as it deals with my own family’s history...
Hard Yakka! Grass Tree Resin (Xanthorrhoea)
The Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea) is a genus of approximately 30 flowering plants endemic to Australia, which have traditionally been harvested by Koori people for a variety of uses, including the provision of food, drink,...
Modified Trees (Scar Trees)
Modified trees or ‘scar trees’ are trees which have been modified by Aboriginal people for a variety of different uses. Modifications include carved artworks and scars resulting from: The creation of wood or bark...
