One of the greatest farces of Australian History is that commonly the history taught to our children only takes into account the last 200 years or so of cultural development. It is almost as though our centres of Education, chose not to acknowledge that our history is over 50,000 years and more of continual cultural development. Culture is about us all… and the many facets of a land, facets which make the gem, that is Aus’, dance in the light. Our culture, in all its facets, is the longest continuing culture in the world. It is that which is still within our reach to preserve, given the tools available to us… writing and the building of record, this to share down through the ages. It is not only a farce that we ignore what is a real treasure in our own time, but a tragedy that we should be so ignorant.
Research is a large part of my writing, the stories I scribe and the tales I tell. Recently I came across a remarkable Doco’ … Did I mention that I love YouTube as a resource amongst other assets of the Internet… Well I came across a wonderful piece of work and I wanted to share it with you. Its a Doco… largely presenting the culture of Arnhem Land and its a treasure, well worth the hour to watch.
The Palawa, is the name by which the Tasmanian Aboriginal tribes were in general known. There were several tribal groups that identified with different area’s of Tas’, such as the Big River tribe, a central tribe associated with the central rivers and lakes or the North Eastern tribe whose lands were those around The Bay of Fires and so on. These tribal people ranged across all of Tasmania in migrations, according to the different season. But they knew their country and their homelands and identified themselves with that region and no body argued about it much. 
Have you ever been making your way through the bush and suddenly had the sense that you are being watched? There is something out there… something unknown… the break of a twig underfoot… someone else’s foot? Yet there is no one there. Do all your instincts scream that you are not alone? Well in Aus’ you usually aren’t.
Millions of years ago in Queensland an ocean covered the vast regions of the Outback plains. The Great Barrier Reef was inland by about a 500 klm and now these ancient reefs and silt beds lay buried beneath a hardened volcanic cap of a later epoch.
History is a wonderful thing, it provides us with a frame of reference, a background and tales of the past, ours. It is our greatest shame that our children are not taught Australian history in our schools and are instead taught mostly English maritime history.
I have had the opportunity and privilege of treading the stone pavements of Ancient Pompeii, I have sat on the walls of the stone domes of the monks on the sharp hillsides of Ireland. In Wales I stepped along paths through the marshlands where the Druids once lived and in London I wondered over the Roman ruins unearthed beneath the city. I have trodden many places, amongst Viking ruins in Sweden and along ancient paths down through Europe but it was only this week that I felt the life that can be found in still even more ancient places.
They say that you should never go back, but there are some things, some places from your childhood that draw you back towards them irresistibly. At the moment The Man and I are showing one of our precious Grandies the sights of Sydney, introducing her to the joy of adventure and the wonders of the greater of the Aus. cities.
Jan Hawkins Author 