[From a friend, Brigid Walsh]

Where do you live? What do you know of the history of your locality? Getting to know this history is important.

If geological/earth history is known, we are able to gain a better understanding of how our local habitat is/was formed. With knowledge, we are better equipped to interact responsibly with our planet, flora and fauna.

Having an understanding of how the community in which we lived was formed, helps us to understand people we live and work with. With knowledge, we can keep what is good and work for what is better for those in the future. We can learn about patterns of human settlement, religions and culture of those who have settled in locally, and the way we govern ourselves.

In Australia, most of our historical understanding has emphasised European exploration and post-1788 settlement. There has been little encouragement towards having a wide and deep understanding across the nation of settlement, culture, and spirituality prior to European involvement.

How do we rectify this?

It is possible to influence education curricula, and lobby government. However, there is no substitute for individual action and interaction. There is a lot of easily accessible information to allow us to increase our knowledge. But, if this is all that happens, this will be only book learning. Knowledge gained from literature, histories and general reading needs to have the experience of human interaction to give it the fullest understanding and practicality.

However, in large urban areas with a history of extensive dispossession of Aboriginal people, people of energy and goodwill might find it difficult to meet Aboriginal people and form meaningful friendships.

The purpose of this leaflet is to encourage an interest in pre-1770 history of local communities by two very simple actions and so begin a journey to understanding our nation and its people in an enriched way.

First, establish - through your local council, the internet, your local library - the name of the Aboriginal group in your area.

Secondly, include this name in your address.

For instance, I live at Upper Ferntree Gully in the outer suburbs of Melbourne in Victoria. I now use as my address the following:

Brigid Walsh Upper Ferntree Gully Woiworung Country Victoria 3156

By doing this, I hope that others will do the same and, that, gradually, there will be a groundswell until across the nation we will have people establishing, through these simple actions, a link to the ancient history and traditions of Australia.

If you take up this practice, please let me know. I would love to hear about it. Contact me at misseagle[at]bluebottle.com.

I have used as my authority a map available at the website of the Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra. You can find this site at

http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/aboriginal_studies_press/aboriginal_wall_map/map_page

or http://tinyurl.com/6l2qqv

AIATSIS also have wall maps, large and small, available for sale. You might encourage your local organisations (council, schools, churches, businesses) to purchase a map and display it where it can be easily seen.

See: http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/uploads/aus_map_covered_text_lined.jpg

or http://tinyurl.com/5lc78r

At this site, this map is clickable to provide a greatly enlarged and readable map. --

Shalom/Salaam/Pax! Rowland Croucher

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