Cont..

These blacks made various well constructed dams in the creek, which by certain heights acted as sluice gates at the flooding season . . . In 1840 a sheep station was formed on the opposite banks of the creek to this Aboriginal village or town. My informant who was a well educated man and a nephew to the Recorder of the City of London, though a shepherd at the time gave me a drawing he had taken of the village . . . These blacks used to live almost on fish, grubs and small animals and were perfectly harmless and stationary in 1841 or the end of 1840. My informant stated that the grass got bare or scarce on the side of the creek where the sheep station was, and one day while the Blacks were from their village, up the creek, seeking their daily fare, the white people set fire to and demolished the aboriginal settlement and it afterwards became the sheep farmers [?] ... What became of the blacks he would not tell but at the close of 1841 when he again went shepherding in that locality he could not trace a single hut along the whole creek.”

Dear Loudmouth,

Not sure I'm up for your usual deeply sceptical nonsense on these things but I will give it a fly.

Murnong is proving pretty hard to cultivate. I have tried a couple of times to no avail. Some of the introduced species like African weed orchids are also a tubular plant which once they get a toe hold are off and running, Murnong however seems to have adapted to harvesting and a fire regime and without these is not of a mind to flourish.

The murong digging sticks were impressive. Some more early accounts.

“The stick used by the native women is about seven feet in length, from one and a half to two and a half inches in diameter, and seldom less than three or four pounds in weight. It is named Kan-nan or Kor-nung. Saplings of anysuitable tree furnishing a tough wood are used for making these instruments. The an-nan, when sharpened at each end, is hardened by placing the points in a mound of smouldering bark ashes. With this stick the women dig up roots, the Mirr-n'yong especially. It is the weapon with which they fight also.”

You may be interested in one of the uses for Kangaroo Grass by the Gippsland tribes.

“In Gippsland the net was made from tall kangaroo grass twisted into twine. It was made by a method similar to that used by Europeans, but the fingers were used instead of a gauge, consequently the size of the mesh was not as regular. Bark was used to float the top of the net, and stones for sinking the bottom. … The women made the twine by twisting the two strands on the thigh and very dexterously turning it the opposite way. The could not make more than 100 yards a day, but very good nets were made from it.”

SR,

Mud and straw / stick huts are the least permanent structures short of a tent. Hunter gatherers typically establish small villages for a period then move on as the food source is diminished.

Given that Aus has been occupied for 60 000 years, the claim that colonists destroyed all signs of permanent dwellings is laughable. In Greece on the islands people build houses on concrete rafts to avoid digging foundations, as these often turn up ruins that delay construction. I can give plenty more examples even from Africa.

Still seeing those wanting to undermine the idea our first people did farm and use things
But thinking back 6000 years ago whiteman too lived much the same as we are learning our first people did
Not seeing many stone age high rise buildings

By definition, a nomad is someone or a group who don't have permanent abodes and move seasonally to where the resources are.

That some aboriginal groups weren't nomadic is a given. The recent claims that we used to think they were all nomadic is rubbish. Its always been known that some weren't nomadic. Not just those currently being lauded as ancient Einsteins but quite a few others. Some groups in Tasmania lived in permanent caves next to never-ending seafood resources. Its claimed that some in the Daintree had permanent tree-houses (but the Daintree pygmies have been written out of history). A several other groups mainly around the coasts.

But now its claimed that people who were nomadic with a given range weren't really nomadic. This is claimed for political purposes. Most changes to definitions are.

Aquaculture wasn't all that remarkable. It occurred in many parts of the world in pre-history. But Aboriginal achievements were so few that any mildly unusual achievement is treated as the work of geniuses. Wow, they built some stone shacks. As did almost every other pre-historic human group. But we are meant to swoon at their ingenuity.

The difference is that groups who built stone shacks moved forward. Groups who might have done some rudimentary tending of plants moved on.

They selected for genetic traits and created wheat, rice and maize. The aboriginals?

They domesticated animals and tended their herds. The aboriginals?

6000 years ago, 10000 years ago, peoples all over the world were building stone shacks and starting to learn how to create permanent food sources. Some of these peoples went on to invent the wheel, the arrow, metallurgy, writing, cropping and harvesting. Some built the pyramids, the Acropolis. Some worked out how to create a right-angle.

The aboriginals? Well the went on eating eel. A proud pre-history for our nation.

Dear Belly,

People can deny all they want and not loof for
reasons why in our country there's so much
disbelief regarding anything positive that's
said or discovered about our Indigenous people.
Some just don't want to know despite the
mounting evidence. However, archaeological
sites are being discovered and a vastly
different view is being presented - and that is
a good thing.

So much material is now being made available
that was hidden in the past. And the point of
this discussion was to attract attention to the
evidence that is being found. And recognised
all over the world.

Perhaps the sceptics should make the effort to visit
sites, museum, and other places in their travels
and take a look at the places and artifacts on display.
Talk to the tour guides.They just may learn
something. Budj Bim - is going to be a great tourist
attraction. A visit there may answer quite a few
questions.