History is written by the victors, just as the history of WW2 was by and large written by the victorious side, the allies, the history of Australia has also been written by the victors, and who were the victors, that is plain to see, it was not the Aboriginals, that;s for sure.
It would be asking too much to expect the historical record to be nothing more that a bland account of events, people, places, times and dates etc, that would be asking far to much, it's far too important for that. History has to reflect our culture, our values, and who better to give that account than us, the victors. If history should contain inconvenient truths, then we can simply gloss over them, or modify them or simply ignore them. I think in regards to indigenous Australians there was a lot of that inconvenient truth and we did in fact gloss over it, or modify it, or simply ignore it. Those today who question the official account from the past, are seen as rabble rouses, and trouble makers, lefties no less! The war goes on.

Foxy,
I am aware of the situation re your link, I live it daily. It does come in very handy to claim something that can't be proven, like secret women's business or what I feel inside. I suppose the entitlements have a lot to do with it. I know that a 4% bank loan interest is much less preferable to say, 12 %. Free education too I'm sure would be knocked back in favour of paying for it. Legal aid paid for by the victim is also something that would not be accepted if it weren't legislated. The integrity is boundless.

Yes Steele, I've got Irish ancestry on my mother's side and yet there's no "clan memory" of the famines, the slave raids and the massacres.
This idea that successive generations re-live past trauma is deeply rooted in Judeo Christian mythology, in reality there's no such thing, no memories of slavery among the American Negroes or of the epidemics which devastated Aboriginal societies.

Paul,

The historical record of the Myall Creek massacre in NSW is there for all to see in recorded Australian history as is the subsequent trials and executions of some of the offenders, both white and black.

Do we owe other records of the mistreatment of Aboriginals to their written records?

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_of_Indigenous_Australians
for a reasonable list.

Dear Jay,

I'm glad to read that you and a friend are interested
in doing some more research on the subject.
Being from Melbourne a good place to start would be
the State Library of Victoria. They have a special
collection on Australian history. The following link
may help:

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/our-collections/collection-strengths/australian-history

Dear Paul,

I admire your reasoning and your sense of humour.I'll
repeat what I've said so many times on this forum.
I certainly don't have the answers to the big questions in
life. I'm still on my own road to discovery. But everything
is relative; everything has its story; and everyone has
obstacles to overcome. They are our greatest teachers.
Each of us goes through transitions and transformations.
The important things is that we acknwledge them and learn from
them. That is the idea of this discussion. And I am grateful
for your (and others) contributions.

Dear SteeleRedux,

Thank You for your posts. You continue to broaden the
discussion for which I am grateful. I also love visiting
Ballarat. There's always something new to discover.
Be it checking out the additions to the Prime Minister's
walk, having lunch near the lake, or visiting the galleries.
I've still got the poster that I purchased from the
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery on the "Legendary Lindsays".
A painting by Norman Lindsay called the "Sphynx."
I had it framed and it hangs in my study. Talking about
ancestries - mine is a bit of a mix as well and it also
includes German as well as Scottish.

I am very pleased with the way this discussion has gone.
It has been a learning experience. Most of us want to
know about ourselves, why we do the things we do.
Sometimes the reasons are clear and well within sight, but
sometimes our own actions, let alone those of other
people are puzzling.
In the case of our Indigenous people - doing some research
has given me heaps to think about. But there's still more
to be done - which I intend to follow up.

Foxy,
Thanks but we're specifically interested in the titles of history textbooks which were used in schools in the 1940's and 50's, the purpose of the exercise is to see if there's something to this notion that older people who grew up in "White Australia" have a different understanding or interpretation of race to that of younger people who've only known multiculturalism.
My friend is presently studying for an arts degree and it ties in to some of the work he's doing, you'd think that the answers would be obvious but maybe that's not so since it seems to me that many White people my age and younger don't share the values espoused by the older folk.