This would be surprising to many ordinary readers and prodding the minds of mainstream academics. “Hunter-gatherer” term, which circulated in both popular and academic spheres was more neutral, but it fed the same narrative about the “primitive dying race.”ĭark Emu is packed with quotes and references from original sources that collectively challenge the narrative of the Aboriginal people as nomadic hunters. So, the insulting term “nomad” helped to perpetuate the infamous myth of terra nullius - nobody's land. In this context, “nomad” was a judgemental term with negative connotations – and people who are not settled or cultivate land (according to European model) do not have a title or claim to the land. Civilising primitive land and people was framed as a noble endeavour, where ends justified means. To justify this the colonist constructed a narrative, depicting indigenous people as primitive nomadic tribes. This resulted in large part from political context where indigenous Australians were dispossessed, marginalised and suffered many decades of political and civic exclusion, institutionalised and inherent in practice. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received insufficient and often distorted representation in cultural studies and, especially, Australian history.
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