Sunday, July 17, 2016

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Dymocks - Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe







Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?



by Bruce Pascoe







 (Author)



5.0 out of 5 stars    2 customer reviews



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Product Details



Paperback: 176 pages



Publisher: Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation (October 1, 2015)



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Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for precolonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing - behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag. Gerritsen and Gammage in their latest books support this premise but Pascoe takes this further and challenges the hunter-gatherer tag as a convenient lie. Almost all the evidence comes from the records and diaries of the Australian explorers, impeccable sources.



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Top Customer Reviews



5.0 out of 5 starsRevolutionary.



By Mr. Evan Hadkins on March 1, 2016



Format: Paperback Verified Purchase



Highest possible rating for the importance of the information. Also well written. I wish there were more detail that could be given - I guess that may be possible if more research is done. Essential reading for any Australian. Also for anyone who wants their mind twisted about 'hunter-gatherers'.



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5.0 out of 5 starsA revolutionary perspective on the Australian Aborigines



By Casca on May 17, 2016



Format: Paperback



Aborigines have lived in Australia for at least 60,000 years. Some push the figure back to 100,000 years. It has been assumed by most that the Aborigines were hunter-gathers, just wandering around the land collecting food on their way. Pascoe’s research shows they practised agriculture and quite sophisticated living patterns.He carefully read accounts by early white explorers, visited sites and examined old photographs.There is evidence that some Aborigines had ‘towns’ of up to 5,000 inhabitants. Dwellings could be substantial: stone houses, thatched huts, clay rendered huts.Some huts could accommodate 12-15 people. There is an account of a meeting house 30 metres in diameter. Yams and various grain crops were cultivated. Elaborate fish traps were built, the remains of some being visible today. Pascoe shows the Aborigines managed the land rationality, benefitting themselves and preserving natural resources for millennia. He hopes people will gain understanding and appreciation of the Aborigines through his book. This is an important book to aid reconciliation. It won the New South Wales Premier's Book Award for 2016.

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