Narrator Rachel Perkins re-tells stories from the Dreamtime and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, historian Professor Janet McCalman and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage weigh in on the unique prehistory experience of Australian Indigenous peoples. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

On 25 January 1788 the First Fleet enters Sydney Harbour. Narrator Rachel Perkins and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation convey the Indigenous point of view of this event. Emeritus Scholar Inga Clendinnen describes attempts by the Aboriginal people and the British soldiers to meet on peaceful terms. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins and interviewees Emeritus Scholar Inga Clendinnen and Associate Professor James Kohen impart the story of a cross-cultural relationship between Lieutenant Dawes and Aboriginal woman, Patyegarang. Readings of Dawes’s diaries reveal their conversations. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

It is 1830 and European settlement has begun in Tasmania. Narrator Rachel Perkins sets the scene for the resulting inter-racial tension and violence dubbed the Black War, the harsh world Truganini is born into. This clip introduces her personality and her relationship with George Augustus Robinson.

Together they made an unlikely pair who changed the future of Tasmanian Aboriginals. Historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage, Tasmanian Aboriginal Darlene Mansell, and historian Professor Gordon Briscoe of the Maraduntjara Nation provide their historical interpretation of Truganini’s life and motives. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

This clip is set after Truganini and George Robinson have moved the remaining population of Indigenous Tasmanians to Flinders Island. Professor Lyndall Ryan explains the scientific rationalisation of the high death rate of the Tasmanian Aboriginal People. Rachel Perkins’s narration outlines the science behind it – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection. Professor Henry Reynolds expands on Darwin’s theory and its need to divide society into evolutionary levels. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins recounts Truganini’s concerns about her burial and the resting place of her body after her death. Darlene Mansell, historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, and writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage, discuss Truganini’s government-given status as the last legitimate Tasmanian Aboriginal person alive. Her burial wishes are finally enacted 100 years after her death. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins gives the historical context to the lives and situation of this episode’s focus individuals – Simon Wonga and William Barak. Writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung heritage and historian Professor Janet McCalman expand on the cultural and spiritual losses experienced by Aboriginal people in Victoria and Wonga’s vision for the future. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins outlines the formation of an Aboriginal Protection Board and the establishment of reserves around Victoria. Margaret Gardiner of the Wurundjeri clan, Carolyn Briggs, a Boonwurrung Elder and Professor Janet McCalman attribute the ultimate survival of the Victorian Aboriginal people to the creation of reserves and an enduring will to survive.

The Christian influence on these reserves is explored through the example of Ramahyuck and its overseer, Brother Fredrich Hagenaeur, who bans all religious ceremony and language. We hear an archival record of his description of corroboree. Historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation and Jim Berg of Gunditjmara Nation discuss the life on reserves and the link between loss of spirituality and loss of self-being. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation describes the Protection Board as the real enemy of Aboriginal people, particularly in relation to the Half-Caste Act developed by the Protection Board and Brother Fredrich Hagenaeur. Professor Janet McCalman and Dr Wayne Atkinson of the Yorta Yorta Nation describe the ramifications of the Act and what Atkinson attests are ‘genocidal intentions’. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins tells the Dreamtime stories of the desert people in Central Australia. The importance of the belief system and sacred law of the Arrernte people, Altyerra, is explained by Herman Malbunka of the Western Arrernte Nation. Perkins then sets the scene for the changes that are brought about by the white man and the coming of the telegraph pole. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

The experience of Tjalkabotta seeing white people for the first time is told through interviews with author Peter Vallee and readings of diary excerpts. In this way, Tjalkabotta recounts his life as a child before white occupation of his country. His impressions of the first buildings on the mission at Hermannsburg are of wonder at the technology. His grand niece, Mavis Malbunka of the Western Arrernte Nation, recalls her knowledge of these events. Summary by Sophia Sabono.

Rachel Perkins, as narrator, and Max Stuart of the Arrernte Luritja Nation, explain the origin of the term ‘the Dreamtime’ and its importance in Arrernte life. Historians Dick Kimber, Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, Gordon Briscoe, a Maraduntjara man, and historian-archaeologist Professor John Mulvaney discuss the seminal publication of Baldwin Spencer and Frank Gillen, The Native Tribes of Central Australia (1899). Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Author Steve Kinnane of the Miriworng Nation sets the historical context of the clip. Western Australian police are reacting to calls from cattle farmers to enact revenge for loss of stock at the hands of Aboriginal hunters. Historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation and Dr Noel Nannup of the Noongar-Indjabarndi Nations evoke empathy for the treatment of the prisoners and their transportation to Rottnest Island, WA. Voice re-enactments of historical records layered over archival photographs work together to bring focus to individual prisoners like Johnny Widjee Widjee. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Sue Gordon AM of the Yamatji Nation describes her experience of being removed from her family and what is recorded in her file. Author Steve Kinnane of the Miriworng Nation attempts to understand his mother’s experience of removal as a child. Children’s voices teamed with poignant historical photographs illustrate heart-wrenching personal experiences, as Doris Pilkington Garimara AM of the Maradudjara Nation explains how the mothers felt having children taken away from them. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins sets the scene for the apology to the Stolen Generations given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13 February 2008. Interwoven are the personal experiences of Sue Gordon AM of the Yamatji Nation and Sam Dinah of the Noongar Nation. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Historians Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation and Professor Gordon Briscoe of the Maraduntjara Nation discuss the situation of Aboriginal people in south-east Australia in the 1930s, with particular reference to the incarceration of children for labour. Narrator Rachel Perkins describes Aboriginal football legend Doug Nicholls’s path to joining the Aborigines’ Advancement League. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

The Second World War interrupts the fight for Aboriginal rights and many Aboriginal men go to war. Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nations, Professor Bain Attwood and Richard Frankland of the Gunditjmara Nation discuss the issues and implications of Indigenous people fighting for Australia. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) has fought for the rights of Aboriginal people to be recognised in line with other civil rights movements occurring overseas. A referendum is called in 1967 for the public to make a choice. In this clip we see archival footage of Faith Bandler and Sir Doug Nicholls, who were instrumental in the fight for Aboriginal rights.

Writer Bruce Pascoe of Boonwurrung Heritage and historians Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation and Professor Gordon Briscoe of the Maraduntjara Nation give their unique perspectives on the outcomes of the referendum. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachael Perkins gives national and international political context to the times of Edward Koiki Mabo. A voice-over, derived from Eddie’s diaries and the recollections of his family, give reasons as to why he began his fight for rights. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Narrator Rachel Perkins and Father Frank Brennan explain legislation brought in by the Queensland government to quash Mabo’s land claim. Barrister Bryan Keon-Cohen QC and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation describe consequences of the legislation and its eventual dismissal by the High Court of Australia. We see the bicentenary protests on Australia Day 1988, and then Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s reaction to his inability to secure a treaty. Summary by Sophia Sambono.

Father Frank Brennan, Eddie’s daughter Gail Mabo of the Meriam and Manbarra Nations and Donald Whaleboat of the Meriam Nation, talk about Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo and the outcomes of the trial. Narrator Rachel Perkins and historian Professor Marcia Langton of the Yiman-Bidjara Nation, accompanied by archival footage, describe the negative public reaction to the High Court decision. Summary by Sophia Sambono.