Victoria’s indigenous culture & history explored in landmark State Library publication

The State Library of Victoria is pleased to announce the launch of Indigenous Victorians: repressed, resourceful and respected, being the 85th edition of The La Trobe journal.

Launched to coincide with the lead up to National Reconciliation Week, this special edition draws from the rich collections of the State Library of Victoria and collections from around Australia to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the lives and aspirations of Indigenous Victorians and their interaction with white Australians, from European settlement to the present day.

Indigenous Victorians: repressed, resourceful and respected features 12 articles on Indigenous Victoria, including Aboriginal cricketers at Coranderrk, eel fishing at Lake Condah, the revival of possum-skin cloak making, and the successful campaign to save Lake Tyers.

Professor Lynette Russell, director and deputy dean, Faculty of Arts, Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University, co-edited the journal. She believes Indigenous Victorians: repressed, resourceful and respected will greatly add to our knowledge of Victoria’s heritage and strengthen the understanding of Aboriginal history within it.

‘Popular visions of Aboriginal culture and history often focus on Northern or Central Australia, indeed, students are often surprised to hear that there is a contemporary, engaged Aboriginal community in Victoria who continue to care for their culture, heritage and history. This volume aims to showcase some of the stories and histories of Victorian Aboriginal people. The authors, some of whom are themselves members of the Aboriginal community, have produced a collection of essays that show the continuity of Aboriginal culture as well as its vibrancy and its history.’

Generous sponsorship, particularly from Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, the Commonwealth Indigenous Coordination Centre and Trust Company as trustee of the Fred P Archer Charitable Trust, has enabled this to be the largest issue of The La Trobe journal ever published and allowed the State Library to make a copy available to every secondary school in Victoria.

Indigenous Victorians: repressed, resourceful and respected will be officially launched at 11am Friday 10th June 2010, at the State Library of Victoria by Ian Hamm, Executive Director, Aboriginal Affairs Victoria, with a welcome to country by Joy Murphy Wandin, senior Wurundjeri elder of the Kulin alliance in Victoria.