Year 9 History Homework – Week 1 Making a Nation unit
Questions:
1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures developed in isolation from the rest of the world until Captain James Cook ‘discovered’ Australia in 1770. Discuss the validity of this statement by considering contact with other groups of people.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures developed in isolation from the rest of the world until Captain James Cook’s ‘discovery’ of Australia in 1770. This statement is partially true, the Aboriginal people did have contact with Macassans (from Indonesia) who often visited Australia’s northern coast and some Torres Strait Islands for fishing and trade. Some English and Dutch explorers did make landings in Australia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Cadigal Aboriginal people had witnessed the arrival of two French ships commanded by La Perouse. The French did fire upon an Aboriginal band in February but sailed. He locals could not have known that the arrival of these strange people would lead to the destruction of the Ingenious societies across Australia. They were described as “noble savages’ by the British when they arrived was partially correct as they had not been influenced by other civilizations. Even tho...