The vast, sweeping, epic story of Australia's first people dating from 65,000 years ago to the present day is told in simple terms. Questions that visitors from around the globe to Australia ask are answered succinctly. Marji Hill, author of more than 60 publications aimed at promoting understanding between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians explores issues like: Who are the Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders and what are their origins?What is meant by the Dreamtime?How have the cultures of the first people survived in the face of almost total dispossession and destruction?Marji Hill presents the big picture - history, the rich cultural heritage, the British invasion, resistance, and the process of reclaiming an almost lost inheritance.If you are interested in gaining a basic understanding of the world's oldest continuing civilisation, how it has evolved, and how it is characterised by its resilience, then this book is for you.
About the Author: All of her professional life, Marji Hill has been writing books to promote understanding between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. She has fostered the spirit of Reconciliation in all her work since she was Research Fellow in Education at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra . After starting at AIATSIS in 1976 Marji, together with her late partner, Alex Barlow, produced more than sixty books on all aspects of Aboriginal Australia including the critical, annotated bibliography Black Australia. In 1989 Marji was the Project Co-ordinator and one of the researchers and writers of Australian Aboriginal Culture the official Australian Government publication on Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. In 1988 her work of non-fiction Six Australian Battlefields, which she co-authored with Al Grassby, was published by Angus and Robertson. A decade later it was re-published by Allen & Unwin as a paperback edition. The 9 volume encyclopaedia Macmillan Encyclopaedia of Australia's Aboriginal Peoples was published in 2000 and in 2009 she published The Apology: Saying Sorry To The Stolen Generations. Marji has a Master of Arts specialising in Anthropology from the Australian National University. She is a professional artist. One of her large oil paintings was included in the 2004-2005 Ballarat Fine Art Gallery Travelling Exhibition Eureka Revisited: the Contest of Memories. This exhibition travelled to Melbourne, Canberra and Ballarat - part of the 150 year celebration of the Eureka Stockade. Another of her paintings hangs in the foyer of Jupiter's Casino in Townsville while her portrait of Jupiter Mosman hangs in the World Centre at Charters Towers in North Queensland. These two paintings celebrate the story of Aboriginal boy, Jupiter Mosman who discovered gold at Charters Towers in 1871. Marji's paintings are held in many private collections in Australia and overseas. She is represented in collections at Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and the Catholic University. As part of her professional work, Marji has travelled extensively throughout Aboriginal Australia and the Torres Strait.