History nonsense

The Daily Mail seems genuinely surprised that University students can think for themselves, that Captain Cook DIDN'T 'discover' Australia, that aborigines were living here before white people arrived and therefore their country was 'occupied' .......etc etc.

I'm not sure where they have been, but we have been using this sort of terminology in primary school for years and teachers were at pains to tell us that Cook didn't discover Australia when I was at school.The general belief when I was a kid was that aborigines had been in Australia for 20000 years but that was 40 years ago! Since then archaeologists have pushed that date back to at least 50000 years. New discoveries have been made all the time.This date of first arrival is fluid and I'd be happy to use their terminology but also give an approximate time if using timelines with kids.

 I've taught my students in the past that the Dutch visited Australia, and William Dampier well before Cook, and there was Torres and possibly the Portuguese before that.( even Malays and Chinese) And to assume that Wentworth and co. were the first to cross the Blue Mountains is absurd!

Below is the 'startling' story in the Sydney media this morning!

University students are being taught to refer to Australia as having been 'invaded' by the British rather than discovered or settled as history books have commonly suggested.

Teaching guidelines for universities across the country suggest it is 'incorrect' to say Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia and inappropriate to say Aboriginals have lived here for 40,000 years.

According to a Diversity Toolkit on Indigenous terminology for the University of NSW, it is more appropriate to say the country was invaded or occupied.

Teaching guidelines for universities across the country suggest it is 'incorrect' to say Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia and is more appropriate to use words like invasion, colonisation or occupation

Teaching guidelines for universities across the country suggest it is 'incorrect' to say Captain Cook 'discovered' Australia and is more appropriate to use words like invasion, colonisation or occupation

'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were in Australia long before Captain Cook arrived; hence it was impossible for Cook to be the first person to 'discover' Australia,' the guidelines state.

'Australia was not settled peacefully, it was invaded, occupied and colonised. Describing the arrival of the Europeans as a 'settlement' attempts to view Australian history from the shores of England rather than the shores of Australia.'

Guidelines also suggest is it inappropriate to say Aboriginals have lived here for 40,000 years because it 'puts a limit on the occupation of Australia'. It is more appropriate to say 'since the beginning of the Dreaming'

It also claims a line commonly referred to in history books stating that Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth were the first men to cross the Blue Mountains in NSW is inappropriate.

'Aboriginal men, women and children had crossed the Blue Mountains for thousands of years before European explorers,' the guidelines read:'Statements such as this deny the Indigenous history of Australia, and are examples of the White Australia frame of reference that totally excludes Indigenous Australia.'

The guidelines also advise it is more appropriate to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as an Indigenous Australian or an Aboriginal person instead of an Aboriginal or Aborigine.

The teaching toolkit is understood to be based on similar guidelines at universities across Australia.

It is amazing what you can dig up on the holidays....

I actually have my old primary school Australian history book. It is called  'Discovery of Australia' by Rex and Thea Rienits and published in 1969.... and its full of nonsense about aborigines

I love this bit about Cook: 'As Cook and some of his people attempted to land they were opposed by two natives who threw stones and spears, until they were peppered in small shot and sent running for cover. In the next few days Cook and others explored the bay , they often saw natives, but all attempts to win their friendship failed.'.....I'm not surprised after peppering them with shot! The point is, even back then they recognised that the land wasn't 'empty' and that they were opposed!

And of course the Murdoch media have jumped all over this to peddle their own divisive agenda. ( Let's crank up Howard's despicable 'History Wars' for the election....)

Below is their contribution......ugh!

This tripe is actually their front page news and more inside ( see below!)

In fact the  Daily Telegraph’s scoop – that the University of NSW is “controversially” instructing teachers to refer to the “settlement” of Australia as an “invasion” – is based on a teaching resource produced two decades ago which was auspiced by the Howard government.

Entitled, Teaching the Teachers: Indigenous Australian Studies for Primary Pre-Service Teacher Education, and released in 1996 the teaching guide was the culmination of more than two years consultation and research, and produced by UNSW in cooperation with the federally-funded Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.SOME SCOOP!