The first representation of a kangaroo on money was not in Australia, but actually in England in 1795.
Articles on Joseph Banks
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Most of the plants we know and admire were named after white, western men. Indigenous knowledge has been largely absent from the field of botany.
It wasn’t just colonists and convicts who invaded Australia in 1788 – invasive plant species arrived too.
Hollywood movies have long leaned into colonial representations of the tropics: imagined as romantic palm-fringed coasts full of abundance, but also scary places full of pestilence and primitiveness.
Britain had an urgent problem after it lost its American colonies: where to send its convicts. It settled on NSW after rejecting other options, but the new spot didn’t exactly live up to its billing.
Incidents from Cook’s first voyage highlight themes relevant in Indigenous-settler relations today: environmental care, reconciliation and governance. This collision of beliefs, it seems, wasn’t lost on Cook.
Both islanders played a central role in Cook’s three voyages across the Pacific, but their contributions have largely been overshadowed in what is generally thought of as era of European exploration.
Botany was an integral feature of Britain’s colonial and imperial ambitions.
For celebrated botanist Joseph Banks, his voyage with James Cook was more about extending imperial power than simply discovery.
Though the Indigenous inhabitants were using white clay long before them, Sydney-made pottery helped colonists maintain different aspects of ‘civilised’ behaviour.
Firewood banksia don’t just survive in Western Australia’s sandy plains, they thrive, showing off with vibrant, pink-red flower spikes.
The question of repatriating objects is clearly more complex than returning human remains. It needs more debate, and more creative interventions to move beyond the current impasse.
Not for the first time Britain and Australia are at loggerheads over cultural heritage. At issue this time are two images of genuine historical significance to both countries: Kongouro from New Holland…
Top contributors
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Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor, Monash University. Deputy Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Monash University
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Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, University of Cambridge
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Senior Curator of Australian and First Nations Art, National Gallery of Victoria, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Modern History, University of Portsmouth
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Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Humanities & Languages, UNSW
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Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor of History, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University
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Emeritus Professor, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer in History, University of Waikato
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Research Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Oregon State University
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Publishing Manager NMA, National Museum of Australia
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PhD Candidate, Department of English, Concordia University
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Professor of History, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science, Griffith University
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Associate Professor, School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University
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Lecturer and Researcher in Plant Humanities, UNSW