The noble savage? Not many people take that line anymore however.
It might be not be PC to say but the fact is Civilization arose in number (5) of places in the world, But Australia was not one of them. Whether some groups were nomadic, semi-nomadic is really mute. Aboriginals never got out of the stone age. Having said that I like to believe it was for reasons outlined by the 2nd poster rather then any thing else.

Dan Fitzpatrick, you accuse Bruce Pascoe of ‘another kind of Australian ignorance and prejudice’ and, while patronising him as ‘a great guy’, you warn him to beware of ‘wishful thinking and fantasy’ and ‘descending into infantile delusions’.

And what did Bruce Pascoe do to deserve your walloping? He challenged Australians to learn more about some instances of relatively sophisticated economies as an antidote to maintaining the myth of ‘a crude civilisation meandering hopelessly across the continent’.

‘To infer [sic] that somehow Indigenous societies were like modern states is simply silly,’ you say. Yes, Dan, but only if you take a wholly literal approach to Bruce’s article. I suppose it depends how you are predisposed to approach a topic like this and how important you consider the historical context to be. Pascoe looks at the evidence and sees eel aquaculture in Victoria and grain harvesting in Queensland as sophisticated. You dismiss these as ‘instances of crude engineering’ and atypical.

So what’s to be done, Dan? Should we just ignore this evidence of advanced Indigenous economic activity and return to what you call ‘the evidence of all [sic] historical witnesses, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, about the general fundamental modes of Australian Indigenous production, the dynamics of their social organisation and the nature of their cultures’? Where does that sweeping put-down stand, Dan, in your own dichotomy of ‘self-delusion on the one side, and racist prejudice on the other’?

It must be worrying that you may be encouraging people like Kenny (‘Aboriginals never got out of the stone age.’) to turn away from evidence that challenges their blind ignorance.

For people like Media who might be open to information on-line, I can suggest some starting points – but you’ll have to do lots more work because the information is not yet well mainstreamed.

http://www.wmac.org.au/lake/area

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/national/sites/budjbim-factsheet.html

http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/national/sites/budjbim-mteccles.html

http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/3CEEEC8EC2A2D602CA256ED7000C458C/$file/PG%207.pdf

I'm not quite sure what the point of this article was. Even if I blindly accept the vision of Aboriginal Australia as some sort of Utopia that was rudely and violently conquered by European settlers, it doesn't change where we are now.

The appalingly high rates of infant mortality, the low life expectancy, the alcohol abuse and lawlessness do exist now and it is not because of convenient memory or some sort of 'spin'.

We need to look forward, not back. We need to start treating Aboriginals like equals which means equal responsibility as well as reward. Humankind can benefit from the transferral of valuable insights and lessons from earlier cultures, but that doesn't mean we should encourage primitive lifestyles that precede modern medicine and education.

This is a fantastic article, absolutely studded with footnotes which sadly are invisible to those of unfeeling heart. As Bruce notes, "We live in a country with an incredible history." I'm looking forward to his next article explaining how Uluru is actually a rock structure built by the ancestors of today's Anangu, and how these same ancestors also assembled the stone mountains of Kata Tjuta just like the ancient Britons put together Stonehenge but obviously on a much more massive scale. Go for it Mr. Pascoe!!

I am about as interested in Aboriginal culture and history as I am in tales of Britney Spears' latest misadventures. That is to say, not at all. I suspect the only difference between me and 95% of non-Aboriginal Australians is that I'm honest about my indifference.

I AM concerned about the appalling circumstances in which so many Aborigines live but I'm not sure what, if anything, an outsider can do to make a difference. I suspect very little.

If Aborigines want to focus attention, and resources, on themselves, I suggest they convert to Islam. As an attention getter nothing beats being Muslim at the moment.

Conversion to Islam would help Aborigines in other ways. There is nothing wishy washy about the Muslim attitude towards sex, alcohol and drugs. I suspect it's over-indulgence in the last two and having the former in inappropriate circumstances that is the cause of much Aboriginal misery.

For the record, I am not a Muslim.

Media. I'm suprised no one has suggested
http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/
I have friends, who have shown me most of what I want to know about aboriginal history, they work assiduously at informing people about their subject.
Some I'm afraid, a little academic, but if you want fact I suppose that's the cost.
The institute is in Canberra, right next to the Aust. Museum. I was informed and delighted by my visits. The museum is supported by the institute.
fluff4