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Listed under:  History  >  World history  >  Aboriginal history
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Four Corners: Margaret Valadian interviewed in 1967

What is the role of interviewers who explore social issues? In this 1967 clip from Four Corners, Margaret Valadian is recognised as the first Aboriginal Australian graduate of the University of Queensland. Here, in the middle of the panel discussion she is questioned by Robert Moore about her personal and professional life.

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Chinese Anzacs in World War I

Among the 420,000 Australians who served in World War I, 300 people were of Chinese descent. This was in spite of the introduction of the Commonwealth Defence Act in 1909, which stated that soldiers had to be of "substantially European origin". George Lee Kim was one such soldier. He received the Military Medal for his ...

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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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Mabo: the native title revolution

This a multi-layered website about the life and times of Eddie Mabo and the part he played in Indigenous land rights, produced by the National Sound and Film Archive. There are section headings on: The Mabo film; Mer; The man; The case; Native title; Land rights; and Terra Nullius. Each heading has multiple subheadings ...

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Examining Australia's Constitution

In this clip, reporter Stan Grant visits the National Archives of Australia to revisit the moment when Australia became a federation, on 1 January 1901. Stan examines the original Australian Constitution and reads out Section 127. What does it say? To try to understand why Indigenous people were so excluded, Stan considers ...

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First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'The Secret River'

Kate Grenville's multiple-award-winning novel 'The Secret River' explores an earlier period of Australian history. What is it that makes this novel so compelling and troubling for its many Australian readers? As you watch this clip, consider how this book encourages readers to re-evaluate their beliefs and values.

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The Traditional Owners of Perth: Whadjuk country

Ever wondered what life was like for the traditional owners of Perth before the British arrived in 1829? Whadjuk [pronounced wod-JUK] Noongar Elder and ambassador Dr Noel Nannup talks about traditional Whadjuk ways of life and key cultural places in Perth, and he teaches us the Noongar words for some Perth suburbs (such ...

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ABC Open: Aunty Dorrie and the 'dog licence'

Have you ever heard of the 'dog licence'? This was a Certificate of Exemption, issued by the Aboriginal Welfare Board, that allowed Indigenous Australians to live as part of white Australian society. In order to get one of these, Aboriginal people effectively had to renounce their culture and prove that they were 'respectable'. ...

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Meet the Fremantle Port Hostesses

In the 1960s, Marie Novak and Pauline Noble worked for the Fremantle Port Authority as hostesses, welcoming new migrants who arrived by ship. Why were hostesses needed? How do Marie and Pauline describe their time as hostesses? Compare the migration experiences of Marie's and Pauline's families. How did their backgrounds ...

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Four Corners: African Americans demand change, 1968

Imagine that, like many African Americans growing up before the sweeping changes in America in the 1960s, you cannot eat alongside white people, go to white schools, or even ride in the same part of a public bus, even though slavery was abolished more than a century before. This 1968 clip explores the experience of Mae ...

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Counted: Being an Aboriginal student in the 1960s

Listen to Stan Grant Snr, Marcia Langton and Sol Bellear as they share their school experiences. How would you describe what they experienced? How do their memories make you feel? Why do you think these things happened to them? And what effect do you think their experiences would have had on them?

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Spotlight: Attaining equality, 1960

Explore the idea of pride in your forebears as famous entertainer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson reflects on being both African American and a citizen of the USA. In this 1960 'Spotlight' panel discussion, Robeson points out the difficulty and importance of gaining equality in a society that is based on conquest ...

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ABC News: Mungo man goes home

The discovery of Mungo Man in 1974 rewrote history by revealing that Aboriginal people had been in Australia twice as long as previously thought. Named after the location at which it was found, the skeleton is around 42,000 years old. When discovered in 1974, Mungo Man was moved to a university in Canberra for scientific ...

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BTN: Aboriginal astronomy

Many ancient cultures studied the night sky, and we know this because it is reflected in some of the earliest stories we have on record. Learn about one of these stories in this video. Other than the Dreamtime stories, what other evidence might there be that the Aboriginal people studied the stars?

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The Sea Turtle and the Osprey

The Dreaming of the Sea Turtle and the Osprey (Wundanyuka kulu Jujuju) belongs to the Wurdalia clan of the Yanyuwa People, who live in and around Borroloola, near the Gulf of Carpentaria in the eastern Northern Territory. The story follows the Osprey, who pursues Sea Turtles in the islands of the southwest Gulf. Please ...

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Four Corners: Forms of protest

Imagine the internal conflict for an African American policeman in 1968 New York. Against a background of race riots stimulated by racial inequality, African American policeman Chief-Inspector Frederick Waithe must convince African Americans to act within the law. At the same time he sympathises with their grievances.

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Four Corners: Native title: 200 years in the making

What do you know about the struggle for native title in Australia? On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia handed down a landmark ruling that acknowledged that the Meriam people of the Torres Strait had the right to hold native title over their islands (Murray, or Mer, Dauar and Waier). Find out more about this critical ...

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Paul Keating's 1992 Redfern speech

On 10 December 1992, Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered a speech in Redfern, Sydney at a celebration of the International Year of the World's Indigenous People. The speech addressed many of the injustices suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the previous 200 years. Today, it is regarded ...

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Four Corners: Celebrating native title on Ruby Tuesday

Have you ever had to compromise to achieve a good result? When opposition to native title threatened to suspend the long-standing Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA), former prime minister Paul Keating and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders had to compromise to save the RDA and native title. Watch as negotiations ...

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This Place: Burringurrah - the boy who ran from initiation

Charlie Snowball tells the story of Burringurrah, a landform named after a boy who ran away from tribal initiation. Also known as Mount Augustus, Burringurrah in Western Australia is often claimed to be the world’s largest rock. What other significant rock features is Australia known for?