School children should go out into the world with a respect for the first peoples of Australia and all they have achieved
Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents, grandparents and great grandparents have a burning desire for their young people to learn in school about their cultures and achievements, and feel proud of them. They want Australian children, especially Indigenous children, to know that contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are strong, resilient, rich and diverse. They also want other Australia children to learn about our cultures, societies and history so that they go out into the world with a respect for the first peoples of Australia and everything they have achieved.
The history of humanity is less than 300,000 years old. Not only archaeological research but also genetic research has revealed a great deal about the spread of our species, homo homo sapiens, around the globe. As questions about the sustainability of human systems and natural environments become the key challenges globally, the realisation has dawned on environmental thinkers that Indigenous populations lived in parts of this continent for at least 65,000 years, adapting and innovating as they witnessed an Ice Age, the disappearance of the megafauna, the rising of the seas, the drying-up of the continent.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2IcaxXA
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