Sites2See: Indigenous veterans — summing up

Discuss in class and/or write short answers to these points:

• Imagine you are an Indigenous Australian in 1915. Would you have joined the Armed Forces? Explain your decision. The website Indigenous Australians at War might give you some ideas.

• A common theme in these websites is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were treated differently in the Armed Forces compared to civilian life. Explain this statement.

• How does this website Indigenous Australians at War differ to the Australian War memorial Encyclopedia ? Do the contrasts make one site more useful to historians than the other?

• Research the experiences of Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) during World War II and in the years after.

• Explain the meaning of the smoking ceremony? Why is it an appropriate highlight for a ceremony commemorating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander veterans?

• Can you spot the historical error in the tenth line of the transcript for the program ‘Lest We Forget’?