Talk:History of Indigenous Australians

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[edit] Before British arrival

I'm delighted to see such a comprehensive and detailed discussion of the fact that Aboriginal peoples were not "unchanging Stone-age peoples", as is still taught in many public schools in Australia. The information on eel-farming and burning/landscape management is excellent. I would like to add information on pre-colonial water management and on archaeological evidence for large settlements using hearths and longhouses in (I think) Victoria, which I learned about from an Aboriginal lecturer at the University of Queensland. I have citations for the water management, and am tracking down the citations for the hearths and longhouses. Drvestone (talk) 17:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I added the latest citation for the population figures, which said "citation needed" previously. I can add citations on eel-farming and burning when I add information on water management. I am trying to go through here and wherever it says "citation needed" add any appropriate citations I know of. Drvestone (talk) 18:09, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cannibalism

The claims of cannibalism in Queensland are debated,and I think the consensus is not that cannibalism took place, and that this may be a colonial construction to paint Aboriginal people as "depraved savages". In resource-rich Queensland, with plenty of other sources of protein and other foods, there is little ecological reason to suppose that cannibalism would have made sense, in contrast to some Pacific Island cultures. The most recent scholarly work, R. Evans (2007), A History of Queensland, (Cambridge U Press) makes no mention of cannibalism in the work on prehistory, nor does he cite Roth. Drvestone (talk) 17:23, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] World War II history

In tropical north Australia, Aboriginal men were specifically recruited as soldiers by the Australian government, because they knew their lands best, and were best suited to spot invaders. (Though they were a bit bemused by white invaders asking them to keep out other invaders.) They also were much better than white soldiers at surviving and thriving in these remote tropical environments. OK if I add a sentence or two with some historical information about this, including citations? Drvestone (talk) 17:30, 23 January 2008 (UTC)