Aboriginal Education in the Furneaux Islands (1798 - 1986) : a study of Aboriginal racial policy, curriculum and teacher/community relations, with specific reference to Cape Barren Island

Abstract

The Aboriginal people of Cape Barren Island and other Furneaux Islands have been selected for this historical analysis of Aboriginal education and racial policy, in order to ascertain the extent to which Tasmania has followed or diverged from the political and educational trends of other Australian States or Colonies, with respect to Aboriginal policy. It is found that Tasmania has influenced the development of Australian policies of Aboriginal repatriation, protection and segregation, and closely followed the national policies of assimilation and, to a lesser extent, integration. Yet the development of Tasmanian policy towards Aborigines and Aboriginal descendants, while clearly affected by national trends, has also been obfuscated by a prevailing belief, ideological in nature, that Tasmanian Aborigines have been extinct since 1876. The legacy of one century of supposed "extinction" is inherent in present Stale policy which, while at last recognising the right of individuals of Aboriginal descent to identify as Aboriginal, does not accord such persons the status and rights of indigenous Tasmanians called for by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and its supporters, and has no expressed commitment to the current Federal policy of Aboriginal self-determination.