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  • Dark Emu

  • Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?
  • By: Bruce Pascoe
  • Narrated by: Bruce Pascoe
  • Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (2,666 ratings)

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Dark Emu

By: Bruce Pascoe
Narrated by: Bruce Pascoe
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Editorial reviews

What you thought you knew about pre-colonial Aboriginal Australia is wrong. Learn the true history of Australia’s first people in Dark Emu. Author Bruce Pascoe lays out the compelling case that Aboriginal culture was far more rich and advanced than we’ve been led to believe, crafting a work that has won two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, Book of the Year and the Indigenous Writers’ Prize.

Drawing from accounts from some of the first settlers to arrive in Australia, including Charles Sturt and Thomas Mitchell, Pascoe shares evidence of advanced agriculture, engineering and architecture that challenges the fraught concept of Terra Nullius. One of Australia’s most esteemed writers and an advocate for Australia’s Aboriginal people, Pascoe narrates his own work with heart, honesty and expertise.

Publisher's Summary

A completely accessible, compelling and riveting account of pre-invasion Aboriginal agricultural systems.

Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required.

©2014 Bruce Pascoe (P)2017 Bolinda audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Dark Emu

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Fascinating book

I learnt things I never knew about Indigenous Australians. Use of primary sources was persuasive.

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10 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A critically important message, that needs to be told better.

It's well framed, informative, insightful and vitally important. Unfortunately though, I just found it a bit dull. I

don't deny the possibility that my lack of interest is indicative of the problem, but I can't pretend it was an exciting read/listen. There's nothing particularly original that makes you go wow. So it's good, and I hope more authors tell this truth that needs to be told, but it's not great as a work of non fiction.

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2 people found this helpful

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An eye-opener!

We can't be proud of what has been done, but can learn and move forward. Being sorry is not enough! Thanks, Bruce, for making this information available to those of us who want to know the truth

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2 people found this helpful

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Must read for all humans

Essential information to understand Australia today and the human mindset. we would all benefit from more research into Aboriginal culture and technology. Thanks Mr Pascoe.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Compulsory read for all Aussies

Not what you'd call an enjoyable read but sadly it was very enlightening. This book highlights the ignorance of white Australia. It sheds much light on the traditional owners of our great land and it should be a compulsory read for every student.

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Must read for any Australian

This book should be essential reading for any Australian. The history of indigenous Australian economy, architecture and way of life has been overlooked for generations. This book is a good start to learn some of the important things we are not taught in school and portrays indigenous Australians in a fair and truthful manner.

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Great book! Very informative

what a great listen
10/10
I found it very informative
I have been recommending it to many of my friends and colleagues
thank you Bruce for writing and narrating it
your a legend

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A must read for every Australian

Bruce Pascoe does a pretty good read of his own work. An eye-opening book. I’ll never see Australia in the same way again. We’ve lost so much, and we need to change now.

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  • MEJ
  • 07-04-2021

enlightened

This is exactly the kind of informative and thought provoking non fiction you are after

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Absolutely loved it

Should be read in all high schools across Australia. Giving a first hand account from the first settlers, also deciphering the language used at the time to support there agenda.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.