Indigenous Studies

The first unit that I have been taking the kids through is "My Gold Coast". I thought this was important as they have ancestral ties to the first white man born on the Gold Coast (on Brett's side). I am pretty sure this is not part of the Australian Curriculum, so we have really dived in.
I wanted them to understand what life was like William Duncan (their ancestor) when he first arrived here in the 1800's and historical accounts report that he lived closely with the native Kombemerri people. So we have taken a few snapshot at their everyday life by reading Our Sunburnt Country by Arthur Baillie. We also went on a bush walk with Connect with nature where we were guided by an Indigenous Ranger and shown bush food, native bees and useful plants.
Another tact we took with this is we read a book that my Mum got on a trip to the Kimberleys called "More Tales of My Grandmother's Dreamtime" by Naiura, it is illustrated beautifully and the Dreamtime stories prompted discussions about morals and aboriginal culture.
The kids then spent a few hours with their Nanny (Nanette Clifton - a professional artist ) they were given a brief to plan and paint a picture in the indigenous style including symbols that would tell a story, and here is what they came up with:

I love these pictures they seem so natural and relaxed, it's been a while since I've seen that light in Jake's eyes - I think this homeschool business really suits us!
Our next stop on the journey of the Gold Coast history is to visit Great Uncle Chippy Duncan at the Gold Coast Historical Society.