One of the great disappointments of modern Australia is the lack of understanding and acknowledgment of the deep history and culture of Aboriginal people on this land. As late as 1975 the term ‘Aboriginal history’ was a novel one, says Bain Attwood, a historian quoted by Billy Griffiths in his eye-opening Deep Time Dreaming.
Griffiths details the trailblazing archaeological explorations of last century that revealed just how ancient human history in this country is and just how ridiculously recent this has been discovered and acknowledged by white Australia.
The next step is inheriting. “White people can inherit 40,000 or 60,000 years of culture, and all they have to do is reach out and ask for it,” Griffiths quotes Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins from a 1989 interview.
That inheritance, however, comes with responsibility, a responsibility that Griffiths allows the reader to embrace.
Author: Billy Griffiths
Publisher: Black Inc
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