Milkwood Steiner School

Class 6 indigenous History

Class 6 children have immersed themselves in the book ‘Young Dark Emu, A Truer History’ by Bruce Pascoe.  This book introduces us to another view of our history.  One of people that for many years worked together to farm and care for the land.  Aboriginals lived in permanent structures and planted, irrigated and harvested seed, built dams and wells and sophisticated fish traps.  With the evidence provided he asks us to consider a different view of how Australia was before the British arrived, this was not “Terra Nullius” empty land (Pascoe,B., P9).

Some contributions from the children:

Our class has been reading Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe. Using writing from early settlers diaries and journals it gives evidence of Indigenous people building villages, farming the land and creating large-scale fish traps.  This main lesson I have learnt more about how Australia was before the first European settlers arrived, and more about what happened between them and Aboriginal people.

~ Isak Class 6

In this main lesson I’ve learned heaps about the truer History of Australia, about what really happened when the British Settlers colonised Australia.  You see the British had brought with them lots of things like sheep, cattle, horses and diseases, wiping out the Aboriginal peoples food sources and resistance, making it so much easier for the British to take over Australia.

~ Leo Class 6

Indigenous inspired armbands