Bruce Pascoe: A “Truer” Aboriginal History

What this episode covers

Australian Aboriginal writer and activist, Bruce Pascoe, presents his ground-breaking book, Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident? with University of Guelph Métis scholar, Kim Anderson. Using compelling evidence from the records and diaries of early Australian explorers and colonists, Pascoe reveals that Aboriginal systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required - for the benefit of all Australians and Indigenous people around the world. Bruce Pascoe is a Bunurong, Yuin and Tasmanian man born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. He is a member of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative of southern Victoria and has been the director of the Australian Studies Project for the Commonwealth Schools Commission. Bruce has had a varied career as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor. His book Fog a Dox won the Young Adult category of the 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. His book Dark Emu: Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?, won the NSW Premier’s Book of the Year Award in 2016. The host of this episode is Dr. Kim Anderson, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Relationships, whose work explores how “all our relations” are developed and maintained in urban environments. Anderson builds on decades-long work with Indigenous Friendship Centres in Canada to determine how women build community. Knowing that the position of men and masculinities is an underexplored area at the heart of Indigenous relationships, Anderson and her research team are also working with a growing network of Indigenous masculinities scholars to publish collective work, sponsor public dialogue, and set the stage for program and policy work for Indigenous men. She has published six books, including Life Stages and Native Women: Memory, Teachings and Story Medicine and Indigenous Men and Masculinities: Legacies, Identities, Regeneration.