Aboriginal Australians

By Richard Broome, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, 2002, 330 pages, paperback, $35.00. Reviewed by Jeannie Herbert in the August 2005 issue.

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As an Aboriginal educator, I have used the successive editions of this book as a useful source of reference material over many years. I have been particularly interested in the way in which the updated versions of the text have reflected the on-going history of Aboriginal people in this country, particularly in relation to the persistence of racism within Australian society and the impact of racist attitudes upon Aboriginal Australians. This issue becomes even more critical when it is denied and, regrettably, there are many who argue that it does not exist, or that it is a thing of the past. Thus, for Indigenous Australians who must live with the reality of racism on a daily basis, this author's stance represents a valuable acknowledgment of their reality.

This book is an excellent educational text as the chapters are set out to provide the student with a historical continuum that enables them to develop an understanding of what has happened to Aboriginal Australians from pre-historical through to contemporary times. One of the most significant aspects of the book, in my opinion, is the way in which Broome has contextualised the present by highlighting particular aspects of Australia's colonial history and Aboriginal peoples reactions to those events. His use of a descriptive writing style to re-construct images of how Aboriginal peoples lived, and later survived the oppression to which they were subjected, enable the reader to access visual insights that enrich their capacity to capture and understand the reality of the past.

The additional chapters included in this third edition enhance the material provided in the earlier editions for, in updating the historical record, they further reveal the persistent insecurity in which Aboriginal people have been forced to live since the invasion and the subsequent influence relentless racism has had upon the lives of many. For example, Broome outlines the extraordinary efforts of conservative forces in Australian society to mount and sustain a political campaign against land rights and thus re-ignite the fears of ordinary Australians that they were somehow going to lose everything to Aborigines. This brilliant campaign, carried out by many political and industrial leaders, meant that '[a]t its close, soft and hard-line opposition to land rights, had grown from 35 per cent to 75 per cent'. (p 214) The subsequent betrayal by many in the Labor Party, during the 1980s, of Aboriginal rights to land and the need for such rights to be embedded in legislation, left Indigenous Australians disillusioned and angry about mainstream Australia's political processes.

In Chapter 12, Broome also provides some excellent examples of the ambivalence of Australian society, especially Australian governments, of all persuasions and across all levels, to the inequities suffered by Indigenous Australians as a result of the disadvantage that has permeated the lives of many due to the long-term impact of colonial policies and practices. He reveals (pp 218-219) how the on-going oppression and marginalisation of Aboriginal Australians has meant deteriorating health, particularly mental health, and a diminished capacity to achieve change. Yet Broome also provides some hope for the future, with his outline of various legislative controls that have been put in place to address issues of racial discrimination and uphold the rights of Indigenous Australians as citizens in this country (pp 219-223). Other complex issues addressed include the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody; the possibility of a Treaty; the progress of land rights for Indigenous peoples; and a diversity of other concerns that impact upon the lives of contemporary Indigenous Australians.

This well-written book, with its detailed descriptions, well-organised layout and use of straightforward language, is both informative and readable. The contents of this book are of a general nature and make it relevant to all Australians. In my opinion, this book has particular relevance for educators and should be available in all libraries catering for the learning needs of secondary and tertiary students and those with an interest in Australian history. This publication also has relevance across the disciplines of history, law, business, education, health and social sciences. It will be a great resource book for teachers involved in teaching Australian history and cultural studies across secondary and tertiary levels. In particular, I would argue that this book is a 'must read' for all teacher education students, for anyone already teaching in Australian schools and for all those who work with Indigenous Australians or who have an interest in Australian history and/or cultural studies.

Citation

• Jeannie Herbert. 'Review: Aboriginal Australians by Richard Broome' [online]. Network Review of Books (Perth, Australian Public Intellectual Network), August 2005. Availability: <please cite the web address here> ISSN 1833-0932. [accessed 24 May 2013].

Back Cover Blurb

• Cathy Freeman stands at the podium, ready to light the Olympic cauldron - the climax of the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Games. Throughout the ceremony, Aboriginal talent is on display and, in the night sky, a mystic creature from the rich world of Aboriginal art rises above the stadium.
  
  Tens of millions of TV viewers worldwide saw Aboriginality being acknowledged as an important part of Australia's identity. But what of the experience of the first Australians since the arrival of Europeans? Was the impression created at that Opening Ceremony a genuine reflection of black Australia's place in society?
  
  In the creation of any new society there are winners and losers. So it was with Australia as it grew through invasion, settlement and development from a colonial outpost to an affluent industrial society.
  
  This book tells the history of Australia from the standpoint of the original Australians - those who lost most in our country's early colonial struggle for power. Surveying two centuries of Aboriginal-European encounters, it reveals that white Australia lost through unremitting colonial invasion and tells the story of Aboriginal survival through resistance and accomodation. It traces the continuing Aboriginal struggle to move from the margins of colonial society to a more central place in modern Australia.
  
  Since its first appearance in 1982 and revision in 1994, Richard Broome's Aboriginal Australians has won a wide readership as a classic text on the history of race relations in Australia. Now fully updated to 2001, this new edition explains the land rights struggle since Mabo, the Hindmarsh Island affair, debates over the 'stolen generation', 'sorry' and reconciliation, and the recent experience of Aboriginal Australia. Aboriginal Australia remains the only concise and up-to-date survey of Aboriginal history since 1788.

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