
Title
Young Dark Emu : A Truer History
Author
Bruce Pascoe
Illustrators
Historical reproductions and photographs
Publisher, Date
Magabala Books, 2019
Audience
Primary, Upper Primary
ISBN
9781925360844
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Subjects
- Agriculture
- Aquaculture
- Fishing
- History
- Hunting and gathering
- Indigenous knowledge
- Land management
- Social life and customs
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Annotation
Academic Bruce Pascoe has rewritten his adult informational book Dark Emu for younger readers. The strength and appeal of Young Dark Emu lies in its presentation. Using extracts from original nineteenth century colonial diaries and maps, the historical picture of Australia’s first land occupiers, the Aboriginal People, is told with great impact. The British colonisers and convicts claimed the Australian land without a treaty. According to the source material the author has meticulously researched, Aboriginal People worked together to farm and care for the land often with ingenious ways to safeguard and ensure the land prospered. The book’s accessible format includes reconstructed images of conflicts and evidence of how Aboriginal People cared for the land. Subject areas covered include agriculture, aquaculture, home, food storage and the use of fire to manage the land. Bibliographies promote further study. Bruce Pascoe is a Yuin, Bunurong and Palawa (Tasmania) man born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond.
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Teaching Resources
- Lorena Allam. “Dark Emu's infinite potential: 'Our kids have grown up in a fog about the history of the land'”, 24 May 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/24/dark-emus-infinite-potential-our-kids-have-grown-up-in-a-fog-about-the-history-of-the-land
- Jennet Cole-Adams. Young Dark Emu: A Truer History Bruce Pascoe Teachers’ Guide Magabala Books, n.d. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0092/5043/9268/files/Magabala_YDE_Teachers_Guide.pdf?58986
- ‘A Truer History: Q&A with Bruce Pascoe Author of Young Dark’, 21 June 2019 https://www.betterreading.com.au/kids-ya/a-truer-history-qa-with-bruce-pascoe-author-of-young-dark-emu/
- ABC Splash. 'Bruce Pascoe teaches Australians about the rich Indigenous history of their country' 14 May 2019 http://education.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/-/b/3165887/bruce-pascoe-teaches-australians-about-the-rich-indigenous-history-of-their-country
- Australian National University. Australian Indigenous Banana Cultivation Found to Go Back Over 2,000 Years https://phys.org/news/2020-08-australian-indigenous-banana-cultivation-years.html