Year 9 Aboriginal Presentation Visit with Dr Liesa Clague

On the 16th of June, Year 9 were given a lecture on the history of Aboriginal culture and presence in Australia from Dr Liesa Clague as a part of our two-week curriculum study on Aboriginal texts in Australia. Dr Clague informed the year group about the whitewashed history of Australia, with the erasure of Aboriginal perspectives. We were read out confronting documents and journal entries from the First Fleet and colonisers on board and told about the backstory behind what they were witnessing, disproving these white people’s racist thoughts on the nature of Aboriginal people.

A presentation showing the current issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face in Australia showed us the importance of change and protest that has granted First Nations people rights to land that has always been there, with the students being split up into their classes and having to organise historical events in Aboriginal history. Obviously, many people’s inability to adequately date and relate the times and images, showed that we are not as educated as we all think. This presentation involved facts such as the age expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander  men and women in Australia to show that despite the fact that we believe we are past that area of our history, traces and elements in Australia’s white history remain to negatively affect those that they stole land from.

In class, students were read and taught from Aboriginal texts and authors, being asked to reflect on how they may have been affected in their relationships with Aboriginal culture. The entire course and the lecture were very informative and we were honoured that we had the chance to hear a genuine response and story from Dr Liesa Clague.

Amanda Heng – Year 9

Dr Clague is a Yaegl woman fron Northern NSW and a university lecturer, who addressed Year 9 English talking about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and their experience since the formation of the enal colonies in Australia.  Year 9 completed a two week unit of study on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander civilisation.