Search results

Online

Yulunga: meetcha kambong

A wrestling game of the Noongar people of the southwest of Western Australia was called meetcha kambong (‘nut game’) or boojur kombang (‘ground game’). In the Swan district it was called boojoor-eleeja. A team beaten at this game might resume the contest in a month or so. A ‘wrestling’ game where attacking players attempt ...

Text

State, territory and Australian parliaments

This website is about the parliaments of the states and territories of Australia, as well as the Australian Parliament. It describes the different origins of the colonies and their movement to self-government during the 19th century, and subsequent federation into one nation in 1901. The resource describes the structures, ...

Interactive

Sites2See: HM Bark Endeavour

A resource page about the HM Bark Endeavour, the ship used by Captain James Cook in his first voyage of discovery. The page includes selected links to information about the scientific, political and cultural impact of the Endeavour's journey. Suitable for teachers and students.

Interactive

Old Government House Parramatta virtual tour

This resource is about exploring Governor Macquarie’s preferred residence while learning more about the early colony through this virtual tour of Old Government House at Parramatta.

Online

IP in everyday life

This is an interactive resource about products that exist in everyday life that have protected intellectual property. The resource is presented as a timeline of one day, beginning at breakfast in the morning through until night. Interactive images appear as the mouse scrolls across the timeline. These images are linked ...

Online

Discovering past methods of food and fibre production

This is a teacher resource containing a sequence of activities for investigating the production of food and fibre in Australia’s past. It contains material to assist planning, implementing and assessing a study of past methods of food and fibre production in Australia including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples’ ...

Online

Ned Kelly

This is a website about Ned Kelly. It explores: his early life, family, the Kelly gang, his armour, his time as a bushranger, the siege at Glenrowan, his capture and the day before he was hung. The resource is presented in three sections: Introductory information; Story Objects; and Story Education Resources. There are ...

Interactive

Resistance

This resource is a virtual tour of the Resistance exhibition at The National Museum of Australia showing different responses by Aboriginal people to British colonisation. See videos and enlarged views of objects and texts in the exhibition.

Online

Australia as a nation - race, rights and immigration

This is a unit of work about race, rights and immigration in Australia since 1900. It has four teaching and learning sequences that explore: human rights and freedoms; Australian democracy and citizenship and those who advocated for rights through the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; migration to ...

Online

Yulunga: keentan

A keep-away game of catch-ball was played everywhere by both genders in the northwest central districts of Queensland. Because the action of the players jumping up to catch the ball resembled the movements of a kangaroo, the Kalkadoon people sometimes described this game as the ‘kangarooplay’. The ball itself was made from ...

Online

Yulunga: kandomarngutta

In some parts of Australia children were allowed to use the bullroarer (whirlers), or small versions of it, as a source of amusement. In other areas the bullroarer had a special significance and was not used as a ‘toy’. In parts of Victoria a bullroarer called the kandomarngutta was used. This was a thin piece of wood, ...

Online

Yulunga: ngor-go

A form of spin-ball was played among the lower Tully River people. The spinner was made out of a gourd of the Benincasa vacua. This game was played by women more often than men. It was known among the Mallanpara people of north Queensland as ngor-go, after the name of the gourd used. This activity comprises making and playing ...

Online

Yulunga: borna jokee

In parts of Western Australia mimic battles with toy spears frequently took place among the younger male members of the camp. Mock fights and duels were fought. There were also trials of skill with kyley and spear and kangaroo and emu hunts, the children taking turns at being hunter and hunted. In these activities the boys ...

Online

Yulunga: kari-woppa

A wrestling game was played by the people in the Torrens area of South Australia. The contests were generally held on the meeting of groups from different areas. Players wrestled for a tuft of emu feathers called a kari-woppa. Komba burrong or kambong burrong (the game of ‘catching hold’) was the name of a similar game ...

Online

Yulunga: buroinjin

This was a ball game played by the Kabi Kabi people of south Queensland. The game was played with a ball made of kangaroo skin, which was called a buroinjin. The ball, which was smaller than a soccer ball, was sewn with tendons and stuffed with grass. Teams from different groups played against each other. The game was often ...

Online

Yulunga: mer kai

This is a version of a game from the Torres Strait Islands, using the thick, oval, deep-red fruit of the kai tree, which is quite light when dry. This is a hand-hitting (volley) game where players attempt to keep the ball in the air for as long as they can. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed ...

Online

Yulunga: apwerte

Accounts from various parts of Australia outline bowling-type games using rounded stones. A game of rolling stones was played near Warrina in central Australia. Another rolling game was observed being played on a river flat at Goondiwindi in Queensland. Men used to roll the stones as far as they could to show their strength, ...

Online

Yulunga: kutturi

Small digging sticks were made for children in many parts of Australia. These were considered to be personal property and were usually well looked after. They were often used in play. In some areas the women would use digging sticks in play ‘fights’. This activity was reported from an unidentified place as a stick-practice ...

Online

Yulunga: barambah gimbe

Throwing a ball or object high into the air and attempting to catch it was an activity observed in various parts of Australia. This proved to be a particularly popular activity at Barambah (now Cherbourg) after an Aboriginal settlement was established by the Queensland government on the lands of the Wakka Wakka people in ...

Interactive

Bound for South Australia 1836: systematic colonisation of South Australia, 1829-36

This section of the website 'Bound for South Australia 1836' summarises the historical background to the decision to establish a settlement in South Australia. The text explains the roles of the South Australian Association, the South Australian Colonization Commission, the South Australian Company and the British Government ...