Cirrus@Austlit

'The first time I took Richard Broome’s Aboriginal Australians (the second edition) from a library shelf, it was as an undergraduate curious to see what the book said about Aborigines. Searching through the book for references to Wiradjuri people and places, I was surprised to read that Broome had mistakenly located Warangesda Mission (my grandfather’s birthplace) near Brewarrina. Finding that Paul Coe (we are both from Erambie Mission) was mentioned, I read a few pages to see what was written about him. In that section it was claimed that Aborigines lacked self-esteem and that there was a growth of Aboriginal identity and pride during the 1970s. Finally, I read that welfare groups developed pride and independence among Aborigines. Next, Broome’s claim that it was natural for humans to feel that their own group was superior to others drew me into reading what he had to say about that point.'  (Introduction)