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Course Overview
Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies Year 12 - General: Curriculum outline
Students explore and investigate the concept of culture, the diversity of cultural expressions and how these cultural expressions continue, maintain, share and revitalise First Nations Peoples’ cultural knowledge, and enrich the identity of all Australians.
Unit Outline
Students will study the important role that Country and the environment play in the lives, cultures and identites of First Nations Peoples.
Students will study the importance of self-determination for First Nations Peoples and the ongoing resilience demonstrated by First Nations Peoples in the face of invasion, displacement, government policy and other cultural interactions.
- Traditional Knowledge
Traditional knowledge is inextricably linked to the environment because it is knowledge that has evolved over thousands of years through Aboriginal peoples interaction with their environment. - Understanding culture
Culture represents the ways of living that are built up by groups and transmitted from one generation to another. - Indigenous CultureAn extensive short video collection from BTN on Indigenous Culture featuring and spoken by First Nations people.
- Relationships to Country/PlaceFor over at least 50 000 years, Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples led ecologically sustainable ways of life in all areas of Australia. They used and adapted the available resources of their local area to suit their individual needs, which is reflected in the differing customs of the many Aboriginal Nations and Torres Strait Islander communities.
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- FoodNoongar people have traditionally hunted and gathered food according to the six seasons. In our Noongar language these are called Bunuru, Djeran, Makuru, Djilba, Kambarang and Birak and are determined by the weather patterns.
Indigenous writer and anthologist Bruce Pascoe draws on first-hand accounts from colonial journals to dispel the myth that Aboriginal people were hunters and gatherers and "did nothing with the land that resembled agriculture". In this powerful talk, Pascoe demonstrates a radically different view of Australian history that we all need to know – one that has the potential to change the course of Australians' relationship with the land.
- Bruce Pascoe: Aboriginal Agriculture, Technology and IngenuityIn researching his book, Bruce examined the journals of the early explorers and found evidence of a complex civilisation that was using sophisticated technologies to live, farm and manage the land.
- Aboriginal inventions: 10 enduring innovationsThese inventions and innovations are among the earliest known in the world and helped Aboriginal people survive Australia’s harsh conditions.
- 10 Inventions of the Aboriginal PeopleIndigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, descended from groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands before British colonisation.
- 10 Facts About Aboriginal ArtA large proportion of contemporary Aboriginal art is based on important ancient stories and symbols centred on 'the Dreamtime' – the period in which Indigenous people believe the world was created.
- Aboriginal Art Symbols - IconographyIn contemporary Indigenous Australian art, many artists use symbols as their way of telling a story. Varying from region to region, Indigenous symbols (often called iconography) are generally understood and form an important part of Australian Aboriginal art.
The Art of Making Meaning
- Traditional Aboriginal burning in modern day land management... today there is a shift to recognise that Indigenous people had sophisticated sustainable agricultural systems. There is growing adoption of these practices to repair the damage done by European farming. One example gaining traction is the use of traditional Aboriginal fire management.
What can we learn from Indigenous Australians and their 60,000 years caring for country? Visit remote parts of Northern Territory to see the catastrophic impact of climate change and how we can work together to protect it.
- Indigenous land and sea management projectsCurrent land and sea projects under management. Searchable by state.
Before white settlement, some of the local landscape looked like parkland. Author Bill Gammage explains the complex systems of land management used by Indigenous Australians.
- Cultural ToursLists a range of Indigenous cultural tours.
- The Aboriginal Gender StudyA report conducted on the gender equity of Aboriginal Australians as researched based on discussions and data gathered from Indigenous peoples.
- Gender roles in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communitiesUnfortunately, there are few records from the period before colonisation, as Aboriginal history was passed on verbally from one generation to another and was imperilled by missionary activity and government policies of assimilation.
- Men’s and women’s businessIn traditional Anangu society, men and women have distinct but equally important roles, performing specific tasks that benefit the whole community.
- Why Australia won’t recognise Indigenous customary lawFew in Australia understand the context and true meaning of customary law. Denials of its validity are often based on ignorance or on specific examples devoid of context; the severity of “spearing” for example, as being contrary to human rights norms.
- The Law and the Lore - Two laws one landThe Aboriginal peoples of Australia had a complex system of law long before the establishment of British law in Australia, their system of law is often referred to as “traditional law”, however “rules of law and norms of politically appropriate behaviour were probably not distinguished” (Meggitt, 1962).
- From little things: the role of the Aboriginal customary law report in MaboThe Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws report was released by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in June 1986, after an intensive, nine-year inquiry.
1967 Referendum
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Heritage Protection Laws(Hugh Sando (ABC News) | Design: Daniel Mee (BTN))
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Indigenous Seasons Part II(Indigenous knowledge holders and CSIRO)
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What is a treaty?
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Indigenous Recognition
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- 2017: Uluru Statement from the Heart issuedThe Uluru Statement from the Heart was created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from around Australia and released in 2017. It calls for major changes to the Australian Constitution.
- Relevant Defining Moments in Australian HistoryLinks to websites defining key moments in Australian history and impact on the First Nations people from 1945 to the present.
Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience since 1972. For more information visit www.cs.org.
- Broader Horizons: What it means to be Māori in Australia
Mozzies are coming up with innovative ways to learn, share and hold onto their culture. - Retaining Māori culture in AustraliaStory: Māori overseas
- Native knowledgeBuilding on the ten themes of the National Council for the Social Studies' national curriculum standards, the NMAI's Essential Understandings reveal key concepts about the rich and diverse cultures, histories, and contemporary lives of Native Peoples.
- Native Americans Share the Meaning Behind Their Most Important Traditions and BeliefsNovember is Native American Heritage Month, which is also referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. There are more than 570 federally recognised tribes in the United States.
- Traditions & CultureThere are 573 federally recognised American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages in the United States, each with their own culture, language and history.
- InuitInuit — Inuktitut for “the people” — are an Indigenous people, the majority of whom inhabit the northern regions of Canada. An Inuit person is known as an Inuk.
In Northeastern Canada, a traditional Inuit hunter, carver, and guide is watching the world change before his eyes. In Keeper of the Flame, Derrick Pottle shares the meaning behind the Inuit way of life and why he continues the traditions of his culture.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Nunavut, we are sharing an interview with Piita Irniq, a highly respected Inuit Elder, a prominent spokesperson for the Inuit community and the second commissioner of Nunavut. Piita was kind enough to chat to us while onboard the Akademik Sergey Vavilov in the Candadian Arctic, providing insight into Inuit history, traditions and community.
- Cultural Heritage of the AleutsThe Aleuts of Alaska are part of an ancient race of maritime peoples who settled in the Aleutians approximately 7,000 years ago (Langdon, 1978).
- UnimakThe Aleutian Islands are home to the Aleuts, so named by the Russians. Their ancestral and tradition names is Unangan. This website covers their traditions and culture.
- AleutThe Aleuts (Unangax, Unangan or Unanga) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States and Kamchatka Oblast, Russia. They are related to the Inuit and Yupik people.
- The Saami in a Shrinking WorldThe traditional tracts of the Saami (formerly called "Lapps") dip south beyond central Norway and Sweden, and skim, across the arctic regions of Finland and the Kola peninsula of the USSR.
- Quick guide to Saami CultureFinland is home to around 10,000 Saami people.
Niklas Sarri is a Sami man living in the north of Sweden. He is at a struggle to find peace with his Sami identity; frustrated that others judge him as less Sami, namely, that he does not own reindeer.
- Top 10 Maya SecretsThe Maya haven’t disappeared.
Just as the fall of Rome didn't meant the end of Romans, the decline of great Maya metropolises, such as Guatemala’s Tikal, which reached its apex in the ninth century, doesn’t mean the indigenous people have vanished. - Maya civilisationThe Maya today number about six million people, making them the largest single block of indigenous peoples north of Peru.
- Modern Day MayaThe Maya are still in the Yucatan. It's just that their existence has changed.
- The origin and history of the Aymara people in ChileThe Aymara people originated in the Aymara domains (1200 -1400 Christian Era) that began to appear following the downfall of Tiwanaku (1000-1100 CE). We can trace them even further back, however, to the Wari culture (500-1000 CE) who spoke a proto-aymara.
- AymaraThe Aymara population is estimated at between 500,000 and 600,000.
