Illawarra Aborigines Before Colonisation conference

1 - 2 August 2015, University of Wollongong

Five Islands Aborigines circa 1815

The first official settlement of Illawarra by Europeans took place during 1815 with the erection of a stockman's hut and stockyard at Wollongong for Charles Throsby. Shortly thereafter land grants were surveyed and issued. Two centuries later, Aboriginal historians and archaeologists will bring their history back home when they gather at the University of Wollongong on 1-2 August to discuss life in Illawarra before colonisation. "It’s a huge challenge. We've got a lot of ground to travel. Our history in Illawarra stretches back 30,000 years", said Dharawal Elder and archaeologist Les Bursill OAM. Scholars attending the conference will discuss the Dreaming, recent archaeological finds, farming with fire, and art and culture before the European invasion of 1788. Keynote speaker will be Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University, Bill Gammage AM. Prof. Gammage is author of the best-selling and award-winning The Biggest Estate on Earth -  How Aborigines Made Australia (2013). “Prof. Gammage will discuss how Illawarra's Dharawal and Yuin peoples used fire and the life cycle of plants in a systematic and scientific fashion in their local systems of land and population management”, said conference co-chair Dr. Mike Donaldson. The conference will be opened by Michelle Rush, Senior Manager of the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre @ UOW. Attendance is free and open to all.

When: 10am - 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 1 & 2 August 2015

Where: Panizzi Room, Ground Floor, Library, University of Wollongong. 

Further Information:

Les Bursill – mobile:  0419298018  / email: leslie.bursill@gmail.com

Mike Donaldson – mobile: 0420889565 /  email: miked51@bigpond.com 

See also: Illawarra Aboriginal Heritage Conference 2016.

Agenda

Saturday August 1

10.00 – 10.15	Welcome –  Michelle Rush, Senior Manager, Woolyungah Indigenous Centre, University of Wollongong. Chair: Michael Organ
10.15 – 11.15	Les Bursill. Elder in Residence, University of Wollongong. Authentic inclusions. The intrusion of false and misleading “Aboriginal Information” into the history and culture of Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales. Jodi Edwards, PhD candidate, University of Wollongong. Dharawal language and culture.
11.15 –12.15	Trevor Leaman,  PhD Candidate, University of New South Wales Using Stellarium as an Educational Tool for Aboriginal Astronomy. Supplementary files: * Presentation [powerpoint] * Trevor M. Leaman and Duane W. Hamacher, Aboriginal astronomical traditions from Ooldea, South Australia. Part 1: Nyeeruna and 'The Orion Story', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 17(2), 2014, 180-194 [pdf]
12.15 – 1.15	Lunch
1.15 – 2.15	Bill Gammage. Eminent Historian and Author, Australian National University. The Biggest Estate on Earth. Across Australia, Aborigines used fire and no fire to distribute plants, and plant distribution to locate animals, birds, insects and reptiles. How they did this varied according to local circumstances, but why they did it obeyed a common philosophy, to ensure that all life flourished, and that resources were abundant, convenient and predictable. Chair: Mike Donaldson
2.15 – 3.15	Dominique  Homberger, University of Louisianna. Homo sapiens as an invasive species: Similarities with and differences from other species. Chair: Les Bursill
3.15 – 4.15	Panel – “Living My Life in 1800” Michelle Rush, Les Bursill, Bruce Howell, Trevor Leaman, John Ogden Chair: Michael Organ

Sunday August 2

10.00 – 11.00	Mary Jacobs. Senior Lecturer, TAFE NSW My experiences teaching Aboriginal culture over the last 20 years in TAFE. Chair: Les Bursill
11.00 –12.00	Duane Hamacher, Lecturer at Nura Gili, University of New South Wales Aboriginal Astronomy in the Sydney and Illawara Region. Chair: Trevor Leaman
12.00 –1.00	Vince Bicego. PhD Candidate, University of Wollongong Necessitating a multi-disciplined art history: South Coast Aboriginal responses to modernity. Chair: John Ogden
1.00– 1.45	Lunch
1.45– 2.45	Bruce Howell, Retired Teacher, Rock Art researcher. Member of the Illawarra Prehistory Group Aboriginal Art of the Northern Illawarra Chair: Les Bursill
2.45 – 3.45	John Ogden. Writer, Lecturer, Publisher, Photo-Journalist New Ways of Seeing - New ways of presenting Aboriginal culture to a general audience. John Ogden has written and produced books and articles that present Aboriginal culture to a wide audience. Chair: Mike Donaldson
3.45 – 4.00	Close – Michael Organ, University of Wollongong. Historian and Archivist.

LB, MD, MO

Last updated: 28 July 2015