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'The blowing up of the Boyd', 1889

This is an oil painting on canvas by the artists John Louis Steele and Kennett Watkins, painted in 1889. It depicts the destruction of the sailing vessel 'Boyd' by Mäori in Whangaroa harbour (far north of the North Island of New Zealand) in 1809. There are four Mäori waka (canoes) present. A waka in the foreground shows ...

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'The claim disputed', c1852

This is a watercolour, measuring 19.4 cm x 25.4 cm, by Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80), a famous colonial artist. It shows a well-dressed man - presumably the Gold Commissioner - arbitrating a dispute over a claim involving three diggers, probably on the Victorian gold fields. Two of the diggers are in animated discussion ...

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'The dawn of art', 1880s

This is a set of six drawings by the Aboriginal artists Ilontereba, Mindilpilpil and Billiamook. The set is prominently titled 'THE DAWN OF ART' with smaller text stating that it shows 'Original Sketches and Drawings by Aboriginal Natives of the Northern Territory of South Australia executed without the aid of a master. ...

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'The day of Jubelo', 1865

This is a black-and-white photographic print of a painting by Edmund Birckhead Bensell showing African Americans, probably freed slaves, dancing, drinking, making music and sliding down the banister in a large house in the US south. The print is attached to a cardboard mount. The printed caption gives the title and includes ...

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'The new rush', 1865

This is a coloured print, measuring 19.4 cm x 25.2 cm, by the famous colonial artist Samuel Thomas Gill (1818-80), published in 'The Australian Sketchbook' in 1865. It shows a gold rush scene, probably in Victoria, with a stream of prospectors travelling along a dirt road. Several are walking beside their horses and heavily ...

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'The order of the bath', 1917

This is a black-and-white photograph showing the photographer's wife, Maud Adkin, bathing their daughter, Nancy, in a washing tub on the veranda of their farm, Woodside, near Levin in the Horowhenua (North Island, New Zealand). A wooden chair with a towel draped over it stands behind them and a bar of soap is on the floor ...

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'The parting - "Buy us too"', 1863

This is a colour lithographic card showing a shackled slave being taken away by his new owner as his wife and child beg to be bought as well so the family would not be separated. The owner gestures them away with his whip. The card was the fourth in a collectable series of 12 album cards entitled 'The slave in 1863. A thrilling ...

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'The Rajah quilt' 1841

The Rajah quilt was made by female convicts on route from England to the colony of Tasmania in 1841. It consists of 2815 pieces of fabric and was presented to the Governor's wife upon arrival as a testament to the women's industry. The women learned these skills on the long journey to Australia on board their convict ship ...

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'This old man' sung by Teddy Rock

Watch and listen to Teddy Rock perform the nursery rhyme 'This old man' in this animated music video. Then have some fun with counting and rhyme as you create and perform new verses for the song.

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'Underground cells, Point Puer', c1911-15

This is a sepia-toned black-and-white photograph (3.4 cm x 8.6 cm) showing the entrance to two cells of the former Point Puer Boys' Prison in Tasmania. The entrances are brick archways built into the side of a hill and are surrounded by bushland; there are numerous trees behind the brick structures. Text at the base of ...

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'Vaccination Day in Port Mackay!', 1877

This black-and-white pen-and-ink sketch depicts vaccinations against smallpox in Mackay, Queensland, in 1877. In the sketch the local public health officer, who appears to be shouting, wields a large knife and is about to vaccinate a fearful child on his lap. The child's mother holds the child's arm while it screams. A ...

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'Washington, DC Government charwoman', 1942

This is a famous black-and-white anti-discrimination photograph, also widely known as 'American Gothic, Washington, DC'. It shows Mrs Ella Watson, an African American cleaner at the Treasury in Washington, USA. She is standing stiffly in front of the US flag, with a broom on one side and a mop on the other. The photograph ...

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'Where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed', 1882

This is a watercolour by Alfred Sharpe that shows the house where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, as seen from Motumaire Island in the Bay of Islands (far north of the North Island of New Zealand) in 1882. Steep exposed rocks, with a number of trees growing on them, dominate the foreground. The Treaty House is ...

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'Women electroplating army canteen bottles', 1940s

This is a black-and-white photograph showing a group of three women working in a New Zealand factory during the Second World War, electroplating army canteen bottles. The women wear factory smocks to protect their clothing. In the background are shelves with bottles waiting to be plated. Wellington photographer Gordon Burt ...

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'Wooloomooloo Bay, Sydney', 1852

This is a pen-and-wash drawing by George French Angas (1822-86) of Woolloomooloo Bay, Sydney, dated 16 December 1852 (the title uses an alternative spelling). Looking north-east across Sydney Harbour towards the Heads, it is a scene only lightly touched by humans, with some wharf buildings in the middle ground, three dinghies ...

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'Woolshed, Challicum, 1845'

This is a watercolour measuring 15 cm x 24.4 cm showing the south-eastern sides of a slab and bark woolshed (shearing shed) in 1845. Two men are standing either side of a gate counting out shorn sheep from wooden yards. A large wooden lever and windlass are clearly detailed on the side of the woolshed. A rutted wagon track ...

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'Young Mäori in European clothes', 1865

This is a watercolour painting created by British soldier Horatio Gordon Robley (1840-1930) in 1865. It shows a Mäori man dressed in European clothing, standing in front of a whare (house). A young child stands in a corner under eaves and a cat lies nearer the door. The painting measures 18.2 cm x 27.8 cm.

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1967 and a new activism

How did the yes vote in 1967 change the way laws were made for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? The struggle for land rights became the focus of the next wave of Aboriginal activists, who gained domestic and world attention by erecting a tent embassy on the lawns of  Parliament House in Canberra. Why was the ...

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2024 Dreaming

Explore options for houses, work, food and transport in 2024 in this multimedia presentation from Radio National. A useful resource for stimulating discussion about applications of science and implications for society and the environment as well as current issues and developments in science. Gives examples of how different ...

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21st Asian Century Skills

Governments and global corporations tell us we need to prepare students for a different reality, a new era of many changes. In this learning sequence, students will analyse these claims, investigate Australians who have succeeded and draw conclusions about what schools could do to help students achieve similar successes.