European misrepresentation that Australia’s first peoples were nomadic hunter gatherers has persisted since the continent was first invaded and still persists to a large extent today to justify invasion. However, Pasco examines not only the diaries of many early European explorers who ventured inland, but also archeological sites that confirm that Australian Aborigines not only had permanent settlements often built of stone, but constructed weirs for trapping fish, cultivated grasslands to harvest seeds for flour and tubers, utilized bush burning to replenish these native foods, dug numerous wells and had a democratic system that meant the country before European invasion had never experienced wars.
Well written and easy to follow this book is an important read. It’s a reminder that much of the 80 000 years of land knowledge has been destroyed by sheep that trampled and killed native plants and early Europeans settlers who burned and murdered thousands of the land’s first people along with their settlements.
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