Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture Contributor(s): Pascoe, Bruce (Author) |
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ISBN: 1947534084 ISBN-13: 9781947534087 Publisher: Scribe Us OUR PRICE: $14.36 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Environmentalists & Naturalists - Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology - History | Australia & New Zealand - General |
Dewey: 305.899 |
Lexile Measure: 1320 |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.3" W x 8.2" (0.65 lbs) 288 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Australian - Cultural Region - Oceania |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Contradicts the conventional wisdom that native peoples were primitive hunter-gatherers History has portrayed Australia's First Peoples, the Aboriginals, as hunter-gatherers who lived on an empty, uncultivated land. History is wrong. In this seminal book, Bruce Pascoe uncovers evidence that long before the arrival of white men, Aboriginal people across the continent were building dams and wells; planting, irrigating, and harvesting seeds, and then preserving the surplus and storing it in houses, sheds, or secure vessels; and creating elaborate cemeteries and manipulating the landscape. All of these behaviors were inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag, which turns out have been a convenient lie that worked to justify dispossession. Using compelling evidence from the records and diaries of early Australian explorers and colonists, he reveals that Aboriginal systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required--for the benefit of all Australians. Dark Emu, a bestseller in Australia, won both the Book of the Year Award and the Indigenous Writer's Prize in the 2016 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. |
Contributor Bio(s): Pascoe, Bruce: - Bruce Pascoe lives in Australia and has a Bunurong, Tasmanian, and Yuin heritage. Dark Emu won both the Book of the Year Award and the Indigenous Writer's Prize in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. Bruce is currently working on two films for ABC TV and a novel. |