Cirrus@Austlit

'Would Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson have ever crossed the Blue Mountains without the help of the local Aboriginal people? The invaluable role of local guides in this event is rarely recognised. As silent partners, Aboriginal Australians gave Europeans their first views of iconic animals, such as the Koala and Superb Lyrebird, and helped to unravel the mystery of the egg-laying mammals: the Echidna and Platypus. Well into the twentieth century, Indigenous people were routinely engaged by collectors, illustrators and others with an interest in Australia's animals. Yet this participation, if admitted at all, was generally ƯƯbarely acknowledged. However, when documented, it was clearly significant. Penny Olsen and Lynette Russell have gathered together Aboriginal peoples' contributions to demonstrate the crucial role they played in early Australian zoology. The writings of the early European naturalists clearly describe the valuable knowledge of the Indigenous people of the habits of Australia's bizarre (to a European) fauna. Australia's First Naturalists is invaluable for those wanting to learn more about our original inhabitants' contribution to the collection, recognition and classification of Australia's unique fauna. It heightens our appreciation of the previously unrecognised complex knowledge of Indigenous societies.'  (Publication summary)

'Historians, as users of archives, often discuss the thrill and emotion of their ‘discoveries’. We can form romantic attachments or be repulsed across the decades. Archives containing the physical remains of the past can transport us, we can move beyond the here and now. Before the Museum of Melbourne digitised Alfred Howitt’s correspondence, I once opened a letter written to him on classic nineteenth-century blued paper. As I pulled the missive from its envelope, I could smell tobacco smoke. I was immediately in the room with him. Recently, after completing an article on the topic of frontier violence, my co-author and I both described a feeling of stress and trauma that came from reading colonial records of ‘skirmishes’ and ‘dispersals’. In this paper, I want to reflect on the experience of Affect in the archive.'  (Introduction)

'In February 2016 we lost one of the most unique intellectuals the country has ever created. Patrick Wolfe was a historian, anthropologist, astute observer, political and environmental activist, and author, and not necessarily in that order. He was also a brilliant friend, a kindly mentor and superb host, an elegant raconteur and unsurpassed conversationalist (both humorous and serious). He was an unselfconscious dancer and above all an adventurous traveller. I knew Patrick for over twenty-five years, first encountering him as my doctoral supervisor, a role he excelled in, and then he morphed into supporter, referee and above all friend and confidant. While Patrick was remarkable as a man, as a scholar he was a constant source of inspiration. Politically engaged and meaningfully potent, Patrick’s legacy is not to be understated.'  (Introduction)

'For most Australian Aboriginal people, the impact of colonialism was blunt—dispossession, dislocation, disease, murder, and missionization. Yet there is another story of Australian history that has remained untold, a story of enterprise and entrepreneurship, of Aboriginal people seizing the opportunity to profit from life at sea as whalers and sealers. In some cases participation was voluntary; in others it was more invidious and involved kidnapping and trade in women. In many cases, the individuals maintained and exercised a degree of personal autonomy and agency within their new circumstances. This book explores some of their lives and adventures by analyzing archival records of maritime industry, captains’ logs, ships’ records, and the journals of the sailors themselves, among other artifacts. Much of what is known about this period comes from the writings of Herman Melville, and in this book Melville’s whaling novels act as a prism through which relations aboard ships are understood. Drawing on both history and literature, Roving Mariners provides a comprehensive history of Australian Aboriginal whaling and sealing.' (Source: Amazon website)

'This is a true story about lots of little secrets and one big one. It's the spare and painful tale of the author's family and the hidden strands she found underweaving its history - a story embedded in the ancestry of many white Australians. What was it that Lynette's grandmother could not tell her? Why did she cover her face in pale make-up? Who was her own mother, Emily, the "Polynesian princess"? And what happened when Emily "was taken away from us for some time"? In "A Little Bird Told Me", Lynette Russell finds out the answers to these questions, unearthing secrets kept by her family for generations. In doing this, she learns who she really is - and comes to know the importance of belonging. The memoir aims to take readers beyond the legacy of madness and the tenacity of identity, to reveal the defenses and denials we all sometimes need to survive.' (Source: Amazon website)

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