Education

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?
 

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

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. [node:read-more:link]