Aboriginal Perspectives

APAC

Resources

General Resources

This is only a small list of available resources. Teachers are encouraged to establish contacts with their local community and Local Government offices for further information.

General Reconciliation History Culture Publishers and Suppliers

Website The Aboriginal

Books, authors, films, music, art galleries and artists, sport, health, culture and heritage.

Book Aboriginal Australia & the Torres Strait Islands

Lonely Planet guide which gives an Indigenous perspective to Australia in traditional, historical and contemporary contexts. Provides information on galleries, tours, and places of interest.

Word Document Aboriginal English & ESL

Listing of resources that can assist teachers with teaching ESL/D students.

Website Aboriginal Flag

History and meaning of the Aboriginal Flag. See also the Torres Strait Islander Flag.

Website Aboriginal Parent Easy Guides

Parent Easy Guides (or PEGs as they are affectionately known) bring simple, easy-to-read information on many of the issues faced by parents from birth through adolescence. The PEGs represent a valuable information source not only for parents and those caring for children, but also professionals. They have been developed from research in conjunction with appropriate experts and are widely used throughout Australia.

Website Aboriginal Studies Virtual Library

Links to resources in a variety of categories.

Institute Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

Promotes Aboriginal studies through research, publications, training, and the establishment and maintenance of cultural resource collections.

Black Pages

National Indigenous Business and Community Enterprise Directory. The Smart Links section provides a portal to a variety of topics, including Aboriginal Studies and History, Arts and Cultural Heritage, Bush Food and Medicine, and Languages.

Book Bush Food

This book is about surviving in the bush and how you can live off the land on bush tucker and water. Recommended for upper primary students.

Government Department Department of Indigenous Affairs

Their website contains a variety of resources such as maps of the national and state ATSIC regions and Indigenous communities, and information about gaining entry to and taking photographs at Aboriginal sites.

Website Dust Echoes

Produced by ABC New Media & Digital Services, Warmun community and others. A children's multi-platform series revolving around five Dreamtime stories interpreted by animators, musicians, artists, writers and actors. It includes lesson plans, games, and goodies like screensavers, wallpaper and ecards.

Website Indigenous Australia

Offers information about cultural heritage, spirituality, family land, and social justice. Includes teacher resources, information for students, and a virtual tour of the Australian Museum's Indigenous Art Gallery.

Book Indigenous Futures

Gives students a general idea of Aboriginal people's "self determination". This helped them to become empowered, to determine what Aboriginal people themselves wanted and therefore to reject the assumptions and practices of 'Assimilation'.

Website Indigenous Issues

A portal provided by Murdoch University to resources regarding "social, cultural, and political issues relating to indigenous peoples", particularly those in Australia.

Book Jordan and Carla's Moorditj Tucker

Audio recording and publication produced by the Department of Health which aims to teach Aboriginal children about the importance of healthy food choices and how it can affect how they feel and look.

Newspaper Koori Mail

Australia's national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newspaper.

Website Message Stick

Information and stories that have appeared on the ABC's "Message Stick" program, and other programs relevant to Indigenous people. Also contains useful information about Aboriginal cultural protocol.

Book Modern Aboriginal Paintings

This book comes with a wealth of art from the Namatjira family.

CD ROM Moorditj

A CD-ROM, teacher's manual and teaching resources which support the introduction of an Indigenous perspective across all areas of the curriculum, including Mathematics, Society & the Environment, Science, Technology and Enterprise, LOTE, Health & PE, English, and the Arts.

Website National Museum of Australia, Canberra

The museum has many useful programs and resources including the regular publication Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and classroom resources.

Website Queensland Indigenous Education Consultative Body

Indigenous Education Consultative Bodies (IECBs), or as they were previously known Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups (AECGs), have been established in each state and territory to progress the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in educational decision making.

Website Southern Stars: Aboriginal astronomy

The Indigenous people of Australia have their own knowledge of the solar system which has been accumulated over many thousands of years. This web site gives the history behind indigenous and non-indigenous astronomy, as well as Aboriginal stories surrounding some of the constellations. This site also includes a good explanation of what The Dreaming is for Aboriginal people.

Tourism WA Indigenous Tour Operators Committee

Find ways to get up close and personal with Aboriginal culture.

Book Working With Aboriginal Communities - A Practical Approach

A booklet which provides suggestions on ways to enhance long term relationships between companies and Aboriginal families and communities.

Aboriginal Studies Webquest

Investigate the issue of a formal apology to the Indigenous people of Australia for the Government policies of the past which have affected them. Part of a total unit developed on Aboriginal studies using the Curriculum Framework.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Social Justice

Find information on issues such as native title, stolen generations, and the international perspective on Indigenous human rights.

Bringing them Home

Learning about the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Education module includes resource sheets, activities and teaching notes. Resources use a range of photos, artworks, maps and diagrams, timelines, legal texts and glossary.

Human Rights Education Resources for the Classroom

HREOC's human rights education program has detailed links to the curricula of each state and territory and includes strategies for teaching about international instruments and domestic laws, and encourages students to explore the relevance of human rights to their own experiences and communities.

PALS

Information about the PALS Schools Reconciliation project funded and supported by the Department of Indigenous Affairs.

Racism No Way

Anti-racism education for Australian Schools. Categories include classroom programs and activities, games and quizzes, library resources, news, fact sheets, and timelines.

Reconciliation - Australians building a future

PDF from World Vision which outlines how to improve relationships between Aboriginal people and the wider community

Reconciliation Australia

Resource centre offers student material designed to help students researching reconciliation.

Reform and Resistance in Aboriginal Education

This book gives an outline of the Australian experience in education for Aboriginal people and how Aboriginal people have been separated and treated unequally within the education, crime, justice and health systems.

Sorry Day

Sorry Day offers the community an opportunity to be involved in activities to acknowledge the impact of the policies of forcible removal on Australia's indigenous populations. Includes information about Wik and Mabo.

Aboriginal History

A publishing organisation based in Canberra which publishes a refereed journal and other books about Aboriginal History.

Arthur Corunna's Story

This book is about how Sally Morgan gradually realised the truth about her family and their heritage.

Australian History

Overview of some of the events that have shaped the direction of Aboriginal people in Australia.

CALM Aboriginal Heritage Activities

Provides opportunities to experience Aboriginal heritage, with Aboriginal people, in the natural environment. Educational talks, experiences and activities can be delivered in the classroom, local bush, and national parks.

DOLA WA Place Names

The origins of Western Australian place names and their meanings.

Echoes of the Past: Sister Kate's Home Revisted

Book published by Sally Morgan in 2002 through the UWA Centre for Indigenous History and the Arts. Includes a recorded oral history of former residents.

The Forgotten

A video produced by the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women who have served, fought, and died for their country in all the wars and peace-keeping missions that the Australian Armed Forces were involved in, in the 20th Century.

Mother and Daughter: The Story of Daisy and Gladys Corunna

The third in a series of three books adapted from Sally Morgan's "My Place" for younger readers.

My Place

The story of Sally Morgan's family and her search for cultural identity.

Nidja Beeliar Boodjar Noonookurt Nyininy

A Noongar interpretive history of the use of country in the vicinity of Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. Includes oral stories, activities and art.

Nyungar Tradition: Glimpses of Aborigines of South-Western Australia 1829-1914

The book by Lois Tilbrook, published by The University of Western Australia Press (1983) documents events and family histories as accounted by early explorers and settlers as well as a number of recorded oral histories. The quality and number of photographs in this document are outstanding and provide great representation of the conditions that prevailed at the time.

Pictorial Collection of the Moore River Settlement 1917 to 1965

Background history about the Moore River Settlement, where missionaries segregated Aboriginal children from their families.

Sisters, Pearls and Mission Girls

The sisters of St John of God have lived and worked among Aboriginal people of the north-west of Australia for almost 100 years. This fifty-six minute documentary tells their story - why they came to the area, what they did, and how they had an impact upon Aboriginal people's lives. Sisters Pearls and Mission Girls has relevance for studies of Australian History, Indigenous Studies and Religious Studies, at middle and senior secondary school levels.

State Library of Western Australia: Aboriginal / European Relations collection

The State Library service houses a variety of books relating to the history of Aboriginal / European relations in Western Australia.

Telling Our Story

A report by the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Inc) on the removal of Aboriginal Children from their families in Western Australia.

Website Tracing the History of Citizenship and Rights for Indigenous People

K-6 background sheet produced by the NSW Board of Studies.

Western Australia's Other History

Book publishd by Australians for Reconciliation (WA) which gives an Indigenous perspective to Western Ausrtalian history in pre and post European colonization, and contemporary contexts.

Abmusic

Abmusic's role is to create a positive environment that promotes teamwork, self-esteem and independent learning utilizing all fields of music.

The Aboriginal

Contains information about books and authors, films, music, art galleries and artists, sport, health, culture and heritage.

Aboriginal Art Online

In addition to a gallery of a variety of Aboriginal Artworks, this site offers background information about the relationship with art and the Dreaming, traditional symbols, languages, music, prehistory, and contemporary society.

Aboriginal Australia Art & Culture Centre

Focuses on Aboriginal art and culture along with tourism, Aboriginal art and artists. Culture, didgeridoo, music and more!

Aborigines of the west: their past and their present

Edited by Ronald M. Berndt and Catherine H. Berndt, published by The University of Western Australia Press (1980). Takes into account the diverse range of traditional life and the differing responses to increasing pressures of change.

About Aboriginal people

Written by Hilaire Lyon & Richard Lyon, published by Elton Publications (2000?). A classroom activity booklet for Upper Primary about Aboriginal History.

Australian Museum: Welcome to Indigenous Australia

Explores Indigenous Australia through stories, culture and history. Includes teacher resources and information for students. Presents information on Cultural Heritage, Spirituality, Family, Land and Social Justice. It also has a glossary and an Indigenous Australia Timeline. Offers a "virtual tour" of the Australian Museum's Indigenous Art Gallery.

Broken Bonds

A six minute video which depicts the gritty tale of social realism, portraying both the negative and positive aspects of the indigenous family culture. For details contact the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre.

CALM Aboriginal Culture Program

Includes CALM's Exploring Woodlands with Nyoongars and Sharing the Dreaming resource packs, excursions, and option PD.

Changing Places: Aboriginality in texts and contexts

Written by Colin Kenworthy and Susan Kenworthy, published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press (1998). For upper school English and Literature teachers and students. It uses a variety of source texts from different genres, introduces a postcolonial framework for the reading texts and will assist students to discriminate amongst a range of readings of individual texts.

Deadly Ways to Learn

Anecdotes about language, culture, identity and power from the Deadly Ways to Learn Project.

Descendance

Dance theatre based in Sydney which offers shows nationally, which include didgeridoo players, dancers, singers, storytellers, elders, painters, musicians, choreographers and models.

Indigenous Almanac

Search by date to give a comprehensive listing of Indigenous events that occurred on a particular day. Alternatively, details of specific issues or events can be uncovered by opting for one of a list of 12 search categories or by the use of keywords.

An Introduction to Aboriginal Societies

A book by William Edwards, particularly useful for Aboriginal Studies.

Nidja Noongar Boodjar Noonook Nyininy

A package of materials for primary teachers and students (though adaptable for secondary teachers as well) which embeds the development of literacy and numeracy skills in the culture, stories and language of the Noongar people of south-west Western Australia.

Stradbroke Dreamtime

This book by Oodgeroo Noonuccal outlines a variety of Dreamtime stories.

Winds

Poetry by Alf Taylor, published by Magabala Books. Reflective poems of people, places and events. Excellent resource for High School Students.

Women's Technology

A book in the "Aboriginal Technology" series by Alex Barlow which provides information about the roles and responsibilities women have in society.

The World of the First Australians

This book will give teachers an outline of traditional Aboriginal life, both past and present.

Yirra Yaakin

This theatre group offers workshops to schools, targeting racism, self-esteem, bullying, and appreciation for the diversity and richness of Aboriginal Culture, while experiencing the richness of arts, culture and theatre practice.

Yothu Yindi

Promotes the activities of this popular Northern Territory band, including information about the backgrounds and some beliefs of the band members.

There are many suppliers that have a wide range of resources that support the teaching of Aboriginal students. Listed are some that may be helpful to teachers however they are not sole providers of materials available.

Aboriginal Studies Press

Offers books (academic and general), the "Australian Aboriginal Studies" journal, an Aboriginal Australia map, plus a range of music and videos.

Fremantle Arts Centre Press

As well as a catalogue of available books, the FACP website offers PDFs of classroom notes on selected publications.

Keeaira Press

A small publishing house located in Queensland which has a particular interest in recording Aboriginal history and culture. The CDs and DVDs may be of primary interest to teachers.

Magabala Books

Based in Broome, this publishing house offers works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and editors.

Wooldridges

A supplier that has a wide range of resources that support the teaching of Aboriginal students.

Child Education

A supplier that has a wide range of resources that support the teaching of Aboriginal students.