Making a Nation 1 - Impact of Colonisation

Prior to the British invasion in _____, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had an established way of life for more than __________ years.

• 1788; 20,000

• 1770; 50,000

• 1788; 50,000

• 1770; 20,000

Fill in the blanks for the following section:

The Aboriginal belief system around water was that you had to_______ water before you could even drink from it. You had to ________ before you could drink from it because then you knew that there was thousands of other things coming after you.

Draw a picture that represents the British approach to land ownership. For example, a fence

Indigenous people were migratory and did not have conceptions of territory boundaries.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

They knew of some of the different nations around theirs, of which they may or may not have interacted with.

How was Indigenous knowledge and understanding about movement passed down through generations?

• Totems

• Song and dance

• Artwork

• Written histories

Indigenous people were managing, or farming, the land, but the British failed to recognise this because their methods were unlike those used in Europe.

• True

• False

The book Dark Emu presents evidence that Australia had a ‘wheat __________’, where __________ grains were found and harvested.

• silo; native

• belt; native

• silo; numerous

• belt; numerous

Answer explanation

Image source: https://www.sydney.edu.au/science/our-research/research-areas/life-and-environmental-sciences/indigenous-grasslands-grain.html

Explain why diseases introduced by the British were devastating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (one or two sentences).

Imagine you were in the shoes of an indigenous inhabitant witnessing the Europeans coming on to your land. What would you think?