Country, kin and culture

When Captain Cook landed on Australian shores he came into contact with one of the most dynamic, culturally rich and socially sophisticated societies that had ever existed. The human energy that other groups had directed into pyramids and other material edifices was channelled by Aboriginal people into complex cultural practices and elegant social structures. This book documents how one such community drew upon their sense of country, kin and culture to survive the incursions of British colonisation. It outlines their histories from before contact to the present, through a number of strategic interfaces between Aboriginal people and Australian government policies, ranging from protectionism and assimilation to self-determination and reconciliation. It presents the direct voices of Aboriginal people and government authorities via interviews and archival documents. This is a history not just of colonisation and resistance, but of cultural, social and political survival, even in the present day.