'In 2014, Bruce Pascoe wrote a book called Dark Emu that challenged the belief that the First Australians were hunter-gatherers. In researching his book, Bruce examined the journals of the early explorers and found evidence of a complex civilisation that was using sophisticated technologies to live, farm and manage the land.
In this digibook, we learn about the history of Aboriginal agriculture and technology and celebrate the ingenuity of the First Australians.
We walk with Bruce around his farm as he reflects on Aboriginal people’s relationship with plants, animals and technologies.'
Source: Introduction.
Dark Emu : Black Seeds : Agriculture or Accident?
Broome
:
Magabala Books
,
2014
7202021
2014
single work
criticism
'Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that 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.'
Source: Publisher's website.
'Pascoe puts forward a compelling argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer label for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing - behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag.'
Source: Back cover blurb.
