Cirrus@Austlit

'The colonial expansionist programme of the eighteenth century saw white settlers intruding into the landscape and lives of the Aborigines in Australia, altering forever their traditions and their culture. The ideology of colonialism positioned the indigenous occupants of Australia as primitive, pagan and savage, thereby allowing their material and spiritual culture to be denigrated and destroyed by the invaders. In a fairly recent development, Aborigines are now challenging white-constructed versions of history, and attempting to write themselves back into the landscape of Australian life.' (Introduction)