Education

Revealing the science of First Nations fermentation processes

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It is well documented that First Nations people knew how to make alcoholic drinks from sweet juices and nectars well before the European invasion, but little is now known about the processes involved, the yeasts and bacteria at work, or the chemistry, taste and smell of the plants and finished products, but now the University of Adelaide is investigating these traditional practices.
 

The urgent need for Australia to acknowledge it has a race relations problem

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White Australia must consider the damage that disregard generates, and understand that from the Aboriginal perspective, white ways are not the only ways, or necessarily the best ways.
 
Many of our survey respondents expressed a willingness to improve the relationship. But so long as white Australia is resistant to Indigenous inclusion on any terms but its own, it’s hard to see how progress can be made.

Why Being Pro-Black Isn't the Same as Being Anti-White

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Why Being Pro-Black Isn't the Same as Being Anti-White

When we have the courage and audacity to reclaim our own humanity, this is how we can heal, this is how we can be better to ourselves and to other people, and this is how we will change the world.

Four Reasons Why Being Pro-Black Isn't the Same as Being Anti-White

 
Wazi Maret Davis Everyday Femenist 16 November 2015

Why old theories on Indigenous counting just won’t go away

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My Australian-educated friends tell me they were taught at school that all Aboriginal people only counted one, two, three, four and 'many' ... there is abundant evidence of complex Aboriginal number systems extending to high numbers.
 
So why do some people believe the generalised view that all Aboriginal people can't count beyond four when there is abundant evidence to the contrary?
 

Governments must stop negatively framing policies aimed at First Nations people

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Media reporting and policies almost always focus on what is “wrong” with Indigenous Australians. They look at the problems Indigenous people face compared to non-Indigenous Australians.
 
Current government policy is titled the “Indigenous Advancement Strategy”. But its very name suggests that Aboriginal people are in some way “behind” or “lacking”, needing to be advanced

A search for ancestors leads to the most infamous leader of Aboriginal Massacres

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PS: The McMillan electorate was renamed in 2016

Angus McMillan, a Scottish Highlander was credited with founding Gippsland in Victoria by leading hunting parties to track down and massacre groups of First Nations people. He became a hero in Vic and NSW, and is still seen as a heroic explorer. Here is a sample of plaques, monuments and statues made in his honour.

First Nations men executed in colonial conflict honoured in major memorial in Melbourne

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Ballarat indigenous artist Aunty Marlene's depiction of the 1842 hanging. Photo: City of Melbourne
Ballarat indigenous artist Aunty Marlene's depiction of the 1842 hanging. Photo: City of Melbourne

Clare Rawlinson ABC 27 November 2015

A swing set reminiscent of the gallows where two Indigenous men were hanged in 1842 will be erected as a memorial to colonial conflict in Melbourne.