The Original Australians The story of the Aboriginal People
Reviewed By Ian Banks June 30, 2019
Author Josephine Flood
Distributor: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760527075
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Release Date: June 2019
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
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The Original Australians was released onto the market in 2006. This volume of work from respected archaeologist Josephine Flood soon became a best seller, purchased by many with a genuine desire to understand more about the indigenous peoples of Australia, the first people of Australia, the people who had long lived, nurtured and farmed the lands before the arrival of Captain James Cook and then the flood of white settlers.
Comprehensive and detailed she investigates the history of the Aborigines, their distant beginnings in lands far away from the Australian subcontinent, their culture, spirituality, traditions, their lifestyle and the effect of white settlement on this race of ancient people.
Now considered as the oldest surviving civilization in the world, Flood explores the many differences in the tribal groups, due to their location, food sources and climatic conditions. Asking some of the hard questions, she presents answers to many of the common questions asked, particularly in relation to modern day Indigenous peoples, how they are adapting, their resilience and their ability to transform, to be able to hold a place in of the demands of a far faster, more destructive way of life.
Originally written in an attempt to evaluate a number of claims made by Henry Reynolds in his book The Other Side of the Frontier and Geoffrey Blainey’s Triumph of the Nomads, Flood eventually realised, after a request from friends visiting Australia about reading they could undertake before their visit, there was nothing available on Australian Aboriginal society for anyone to be able to read and enjoy.
More information has become available since the first printing and now in the latest revised edition, the text and style used has made this a work very accessible to anyone with an interest in this topical subject matter, now wide open for discussion and debate within political and public circles.
Much fresh information has been included, updating information which is based on the original questions sought and supplied by a range of people, who in their desire to understand fully, created the very basis of the storyline.
The list is long, challenging and to date some of the 22 questions asked, many still do not have hard and fast answers, particularly in relation to the more recent 30 years or so, when the modern Australians, both aboriginal and white, have had to confront the reality of ‘The Stolen Generation’, Sorry Day, campaigning for representation in Parliament, and the right to be recognised as members of the Australian Constitution and so much more.
Flood says there is still a long way to go, to close what is now referred to as ‘Closing the Gap’ and on that basis, probably this will not be the only revision of this work.
Closing this comprehensive look at Australian Cultural history is an Appendix of places, festivals, tours to cultural experiences and culture that makes an ideal beginning point for anyone, visitor or permanent resident, to see and understand first-hand the history of an old and ancient culture, still thriving and striving in today’s world.