Library Guides: Global Indigenous Understanding: Australasia

Don't forget to cite and reference your sources. For help see the Junior School or Senior School referencing guides, and / or CiteMaker.

Online Resources

Victorian Indigenous Languages

Indigenous Cultures and contact history
Community stories
Explore the people and places associated with these objects through stories, images, videos and activities.

Aboriginal Plant Use
At least half of the food eaten by Aborigines came from plants.

Aboriginal toys
As in all cultures, toys are designed to amuse, educate and prepare the child for adulthood.

Indigenous Weather Knowledge
Learn more about the Indigenous Weather Knowledge (IWK) website and the Bureau of Meteorology's commitment to strengthening respectful and collaborative relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Wurdi Youang, Australia
The Wurdi Youang site is one of a number of stone arrangements known in the state of Victoria that were built by Aboriginal people before European settlement

Amnesty International

Protecting Indigenous Homelands
Homelands are communities where Aboriginal people can maintain connection to their traditional lands. For Aboriginal people, this connection to traditional lands or ‘country’ is of central importance to identity and culture.

Flags

Aboriginal flag
Clicking on this image will take you to a website on the history of the aboriginal flag.
Torres Strait Flag
Clicking on this image will take you to a website on the history of the Torres Strait Flag.

Indigenous peoples of Australasia

History was made when the New South Wales Government passed the nation's first Aboriginal languages legislation.

Why doesn't Australia have an indigenous treaty?
Mutitjulu elders gather at Uluru for a historic summit.
Clicking on this link will take you to an article about indigneous Australia

Dja Dja Warrung Aboriginal elder Gary Murray
Clicking on this link will take you to anews article entitled: 'Aboriginal Australia's 'mind-blowing' struggle for a first treaty'.

United Nations, & Garten, M. (2006). Torres Strait Islanders. [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/3312394102/ in/album-72157614476504440/

Descendace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dance Theatre of Australia performs the opening presentation at the opening ceremony of a cultural exhibition entitled "Indigenous Peoples: Honouring the Past, Present and Future", held at UN Headquarters in recognition of the fifth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Early photographs - Indigenous Victorians
Clicking on this photograph will take you to a website of Culture Victoria and some photgraphs of indigenous Victorians of the 185os

Indigenous Understanding Australia: Nonfiction Books and eBooks

You will often find information on indigenous peoples when you look at books on the countries in which they live. Use these books and eBooks to get your research started!

Aboriginal Art and Culture by Jane Bingham
Call Number: 704.03 BIN
ISBN: 9781844210541
Publication Date: 2005
Corroborees are on pages 11 & 43
Aboriginal Australia by John Barwick
Call Number: 305.89 BAR
ISBN: 9781740703444
Publication Date: 2007
Dark Emu: aboriginal Australia and the birth of agriculture [print edition] by Bruce Pascoe
Call Number: PAS
ISBN: 9781921248016
Publication Date: 2018
Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retelling's of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia’s past is required.
First Australians by Karin Cox
ISBN: 9781921580390
Publication Date: 2018
Before European settlement, about 700 Aboriginal nations-each of which had their own Dreaming songs, laws, customs and beliefs and spoke one of 250 or so languages-existed in Australia.
Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia by F. Morphy, W. S. Arthur,
Call Number: 305.89 MAC
ISBN: 9781876429355
Publication Date: 2005
This is a unique tool for understanding the life and culture of Indigenous Australians.
The magic firesticks by P. J. Trezise
Call Number: TRE
ISBN: 9780001843097
Publication Date: 1983
Bandicoot and Curlew, two Australian Aborigines of the Yalanji tribe, journey to Fire Mountain to bring back fire produced by Didmunja's "magical" sticks.
Young dark emu: a truer history [Print edition] by Bruce Pascoe
Call Number: 305. 899 PAS
ISBN: 9781925360844
Publication Date: 2019
Young Dark Emu - A Truer History asks young readers to consider a different version of Australia's history pre-European colonisation - a land of cultivated farming areas, productive fisheries, permanent homes, and an understanding of the environment and its natural resources that supported thriving villages across the continent.

Wominjeka: welcome to country | Junior School: Fiction Books

The original people of Australia felt, and still feel a deep connection to the land where they lived. Sometimes this is hard for us to understand. These picture books will help you to see why 'Welcome to Country' is so important in maintaining that connection.

Bush Tracks by Ros Moriarty; Balarinji (Illustrator)
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781760297824
Publication Date: 2019
What can you see? Follow the clues that landscape, seasons, weather, the stars, the moon and the sun give to navigate bush tracks and find the Australian animal. A lyrical, fun story about tracking animals in the bush featuring vibrant illustrations by Balarinji, Australia's leading Indigenous design studio.
A Is for Aunty by Elaine Russell
Call Number: PIC RUSS
ISBN: 9780733308727
Publication Date: 2000-01-01
This book was inspired by aboriginal artist Elaine Russell's childhood memories of her family and their life on the mission at Murrin Bridge.
Napangardi's bush tucker walk by Lyndall Stavrou
Call Number: S
ISBN: 9780980796926
Publication Date: 2012
Gorgeous illustrations combine with a delightful bush narrative featuring Australian animals and bush tucker. A surprising twist at the end. The story is told in such a way as to delight young children through repetitive phrases and humour. It informs about the culture of contemporary Indigenous Australians.
The Rainbow by Ros Moriarty
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781760297794
Publication Date: 2019
The land bakes . . . RED. The sun sets . . . ORANGE. The dawn glows . . . GOLD. The flowers burst . . . YELLOW. This joyous serenade to colors showing the outdoors before a storm is illustrated by Balarinji, Australia's leading Indigenous design studio.
Summer Rain by Ros Moriarty; Balarinji (Illustrator)
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781760112110
Publication Date: 2016
A joyous serenade of the wet and dry seasons and Australia's distinctive animals and landscape, Summer Rain is illustrated in full kaleidoscopic glory by Balarinji, Australia's leading indigenous design studio.
Welcome to Country by Joy Murphy
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781922244871
Publication Date: 2016
What's That There? by Ros Moriarty
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781760297817
Publication Date: 2019
What's that there? That's the rushing river's curly bend, cried the sea eagle perched on a knotted branch, swaying. There, look! What's that there? That's the cliff face sharp with sun-scorched stones, glinting, shrilled the hawk, gliding on summer winds. There, look! An exhilarating celebration of the Australian landscape as seen from the sky featuring.
Who Saw Turtle? by Ros Moriarty
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781760297800
Publication Date: 2019
Who saw Turtle? Did the whale with the slapping, splashing tail? Or the octopus with the dangly, stretchy tentacles? Maybe the fish with the glittery, shimmering scales? A glorious exploration of the amazing migration of Turtle as she travels the world and then returns home to lay her eggs, illustrated by Balarinji, Australia's leading Indigenous design studio.
Wilam : a Birrarung story by Joy Wandin Murphy
Call Number: M
ISBN: 9781925381764
Publication Date: 2019
As Ngua rises, Bunjil soars over mountain ash, flying higher and higher as the wind warms. Below, Birrarung begins its long winding path down to Palem Warreen. Wilam - home. Yarra River keeper Andrew Kelly joins Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy to tell the Indigenous and geographical story of Melbourne's Yarra river, from its source to its mouth; from its pre-history to the present day.

Indigenous knowledge through stories

Wunungu Awara
A website for teachers

Not all of the animated stories here are suitable for Junior School. You will need to look at them before your classes do, to make sure that they are of a suitable age level.

"The loss of a language is a lot more than just the loss of words. It is also the loss of identity, spirituality, cultural knowledge and values. Using the latest 3D animation technology Indigenous stories and languages come to life – records the past, preserves the present, and protects Indigenous languages and knowledge into the future."