Information for Educators

Our Publishing

Aboriginal Studies Press (ASP) is the publishing arm of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), the world’s premier research and collecting institute of Australian Indigenous studies. Free downloads of teachers’ notes are provided for some books from the ASP website, with plans in place to provide educational material for a further ten books in the coming twelve months.

We are a small, committed team of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people who publish outstanding writing that promotes an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Our authors are Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics and general writers. A feature of our list is a series of books written collaboratively by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians working together, providing readers with access to stories – and a view of Australian history – that would otherwise remain invisible.

The Little Red Yellow Black Book: An introduction to Indigenous Australia* is THE introduction to Indigenous Australia. It is a small-format, highly illustrated, accessibly written exploration of the complex and exciting lives of Australia’s Indigenous people. Real-life case studies illuminate the text. As well as being packed with information, The Little Red Yellow Black Book provides a stepping-off point for further exploration. The book, and its companion website, were shortlisted for the Australian Publishers’ Association Educational Awards.

Our outstanding list of life stories provide students and teachers with a chance to explore Indigenous lives across both time and place. In Back on the Block*, Bill Simon talks with disarming frankness about being a Stolen Generations child and the consequences of his forced removal from his family into the notorious Kinchela Boys’ Home in mid-north coast NSW. In her powerful and eponymous autobiography, Doreen Kartinyeri describes the Ngarrindjeri people’s tenacious maintenance of connection with country and culture, including the inside story of the secret women’s evidence and the building of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge. Cleared Out is a remarkable illustrated recreation of first contact in the Western Desert in 1964. The book skillfully weaves together Martu woman, Yuwali’s, story with that of the patrol officers charged with bringing in the last women and children from the desert so that Blue Streak rockets could be fired into their homelands. This story is amply supported by information from anthropologists and historians.

Titles such as The 1967 Referendum: Race, power and the Australian constitution* and John Maynard’s Fight for Liberty and Freedom bring otherwise invisible Indigenous perspectives into the narratives of twentieth century Australian history, fitting into a range of units across SOSE, HSIE, Australian Studies and Aboriginal Studies. Both books reveal the level of Aboriginal activism that existed well before the well-known1938 sesqui-centenary day of protest better known as the Day of Mourning.

Murray River Country: An ecological dialogue with traditional owners and Mutton Fish: The surviving culture of Aboriginal people and abalone on the south coast of NSW provide texts that allow secondary teachers to build units of work around place, history and ecology. Mutton Fish can be used in conjunction with Bittangabee Tribe* to build units of work around Indigenous cultures on country from south-eastern Australia.

* Free teachers notes as downloads are available for these titles from the Aboriginal Studies Press website.