Our Land, Our Stories is a landmark educational series exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, peoples and cultures developed by Nelson, A Cengage Company in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).
Developed over three years, with more than thirty five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people contributing stories to the ground-breaking primary school resource, the series is a media-rich educational package developed for lower, middle and upper primary.
All resources explicitly link to the Australian Curriculum Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cross-curriculum priority – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures – through exploring the three key concepts of Country/Place, Culture and People.
The series was written by, and in consultation with, First Australians. It will immerse students in historical and contemporary stories of Indigenous Australia, and empower educators to confidently teach students about the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures.
AIATSIS contribution to Our Land, Our Stories
Our Land, Our Stories is supported by rare photographs and audio-visual material, including over 450 images drawn from the AIATSIS collection. AIATSIS staff worked tirelessly researching and sourcing objects with one staff member alone looking at over 60,000 images.
The AIATSIS Rights team then spent many hours talking with families and communities from across the country about the use of the items from AIATSIS featured in the series. The process reflects AIATSIS’ recognition of mainstream law such as copyright, and best practice protection of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property which respects communities’ right to control their traditional knowledge and cultural expressions.
Our Land, Our stories launch event
Our Land, Our Stories was launched at Parliament House on 30 July, 2019 by the Hon. Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Education and the Hon. Linda Burney MP, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians.
Four Indigenous school students from around Australia helped launch the series on the day. Josie, Shae, Orlando and Jayde feature prominently through the lower primary series, sharing aspects of their lives and cultures throughout the Big Books and Cards.
More information
The full set of Our Land, Our Stories educational resources is now available to order from Nelson, A Cengage Company.
- Our Land, Our Stories information brochure (PDF, 17 MB)
