sbro's review
4.0
A very well researched book on a topic that doesn't get a lot of coverage. Through my high school years, literally zero history on Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders was covered, so I learned a lot from this book. Most of what I learned was extremely sad, I think my favourite quote, which features on the Uluru statement from the heart website, is
“Australia must acknowledge its history, its true history. Not Captain Cook. What happened all across Australia: the massacres and the wars. If that were taught in schools, we might have one nation, where we are all together.”
Learning more about the Treaty of Waitangi was something that I've always wanted to do, and I didn't even know there were treaties in USA and Canada. I also learned
- more history of past injustices, like the NT emergency response, stolen wages, stolen generation, Hindmarsh Island Bridge.
- about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the call for a Makarrata Commission
- about Native Title and how it has actually affected indigenous groups, for example, it's great if you can get through the process, but a lot of groups have had their rights extinguished.
- recent state-level treaty negotiations as well as the Noongar Settlement.
What I wish there was more of:
- More interesting stories, I really enjoyed the story of how fast the NT emergency response legislation passed, with almost no time for people to actually review the contents, as well as the story of Hindmarsh Island Bridge.
- Some information about the stories of other former European colonies, for example in Africa and South America
- Weirdly, I wanted some more detail about how Indigenous Land Use Agreements work, it's probably not that interesting, but I am curious.
I would note that chapter 3 was pretty dry and reminded me of when I worked in government. It also spans pages 64 to 104 which is approximately around when I would decide whether to put a book down or not. I'm glad I persisted because there's some really interesting content in this book.
Overall, definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about indigenous affairs. The writing is fairly formal/academic, so probably less enjoyable for people who are not used to reading this sort of language.
“Australia must acknowledge its history, its true history. Not Captain Cook. What happened all across Australia: the massacres and the wars. If that were taught in schools, we might have one nation, where we are all together.”
Learning more about the Treaty of Waitangi was something that I've always wanted to do, and I didn't even know there were treaties in USA and Canada. I also learned
- more history of past injustices, like the NT emergency response, stolen wages, stolen generation, Hindmarsh Island Bridge.
- about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the call for a Makarrata Commission
- about Native Title and how it has actually affected indigenous groups, for example, it's great if you can get through the process, but a lot of groups have had their rights extinguished.
- recent state-level treaty negotiations as well as the Noongar Settlement.
What I wish there was more of:
- More interesting stories, I really enjoyed the story of how fast the NT emergency response legislation passed, with almost no time for people to actually review the contents, as well as the story of Hindmarsh Island Bridge.
- Some information about the stories of other former European colonies, for example in Africa and South America
- Weirdly, I wanted some more detail about how Indigenous Land Use Agreements work, it's probably not that interesting, but I am curious.
I would note that chapter 3 was pretty dry and reminded me of when I worked in government. It also spans pages 64 to 104 which is approximately around when I would decide whether to put a book down or not. I'm glad I persisted because there's some really interesting content in this book.
Overall, definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about indigenous affairs. The writing is fairly formal/academic, so probably less enjoyable for people who are not used to reading this sort of language.
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