"Before the Europeans arrived, there were 500 to 600 tribes in the continent speaking different languages. They did not have a common name or share an identity; they regarded each other as enemies. The Aborigines as we know them today, a national group with a common identity, did not exist before European contact; they are a product of the European invasion which destroyed traditional culture, brought people of different tribes together and gave them a common experience of oppression and marginalisation. They are not an ancient people, but a very modern one. Only in the lands which Europeans did not want or settled very sparsely did traditional groups and something like traditional culture survive."
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ColumnistsAcademics from AustraliaHistorians from AustraliaPeople from AdelaidePolitical commentators from Australia
Original Language: English
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John Hirst
John Bradley Hirst FASSA (9 July 1942 – 3 February 2016) was an Australian historian, academic and commentator.
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