Aboriginal Studies Press products

William Blandowski was an explorer, natural scientist and artist who led a Victorian government expedition to the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers from 1856 to 1857. Australia is the first publication in English of his nineteenth century illustrated encyclopaedia of Aboriginal life, Australien in 142 photographischen Abbildungen nach zehnjärigen Erfahrungen.

Stolen, beaten, deprived of his liberty and used as child labour, Bill Simon’s was not a normal childhood. He was told his mother didn’t want him, that he was ‘the scum of the earth’ and was locked up in the notorious Kinchela Boys Home for eight years. His experiences there would shape his life forever. From his home on The Block in Sydney’s Redfern, one of the most contentious and misunderstood places in Australia, Bill Simon tells the truth about life in one of Australia’s most terrible juvenile institutions, where thousands of boys were warehoused and abused.

A traditional Dreaming story from the Yuin people of Wallaga Lake, Bangu explores the importance of belonging and identification. Simply told, it works wonderfully both as a read-aloud story book or for beginning readers.

Being black brings together the results of research by a range of renowned anthropologists focusing on the social life of people who used to be labelled 'part-Aborigines' or 'urban Aborigines'. The research cover issues like the basis of identity; the ties of family; the structure of communities; ways of speaking; beliefs and feelings about country, and attitudes to the past.