'Burnum Burnum's Aboriginal Australia is the first book ever to offer a personal, Aboriginal vision of this, the world's greatest island.
'Through over 300 stunning colour pictures and 150 black and white archival photographs, many of which have never been published before, and through the words of one of this country's best known and most respected Aboriginal people, this unique book takes the read on a journey around the continent, an unforgettable journey that reveals an Australia rarely experienced by white inhabitants.
'Following Highway One, from Sydney north to Cairns, west to Darwin and south to Perth, then heading back to Sydney via the centre and Tasmania, Burnum Burnum guides us through lands that were once the traditional territory of many nations, clans and groups and opens our eyes to the lifestyles, history, art and lore of the original Australians.' (Publication summary)
'This article examines travel guidebooks to Indigenous Australia, focussing on predominantly Aboriginal-authored texts. Acknowledging the body of work that has critiqued travel guides as mediators of oppressive cultural discourses, it is as much concerned with the risks inherent in these texts, as it is interested in their potential as sites of authorship and reading that enable anti-colonial ambitions. Two questions animate the discussion. First: to what extent are Aboriginal guidebooks consistent with conventional understandings of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? And second, how do these texts influence tourist activity in ways that respect Aboriginal sovereignty? While not providing a definitive answer to either of these questions, the article, nevertheless, opens up an examination of the cultural work performed by Aboriginal-authored guidebooks during a period of rapid change in the politics of race in Australia.' (Introduction)
'This article examines travel guidebooks to Indigenous Australia, focussing on predominantly Aboriginal-authored texts. Acknowledging the body of work that has critiqued travel guides as mediators of oppressive cultural discourses, it is as much concerned with the risks inherent in these texts, as it is interested in their potential as sites of authorship and reading that enable anti-colonial ambitions. Two questions animate the discussion. First: to what extent are Aboriginal guidebooks consistent with conventional understandings of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians? And second, how do these texts influence tourist activity in ways that respect Aboriginal sovereignty? While not providing a definitive answer to either of these questions, the article, nevertheless, opens up an examination of the cultural work performed by Aboriginal-authored guidebooks during a period of rapid change in the politics of race in Australia.' (Introduction)
