Whose names but said, our children stand

Each and every Australian should be so proud of our wonderful, brave and heroic explorers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries. Without these men we would never have explored the extended lands of our vast country. Without these men, we would never have discovered some our most precious resources, nor have been shown how to do so with such courage and determination. Of course, all these endurances and explorations would have been much more heroic, if in fact, these men were actually the first men to do it. The fact cannot be denied that in many historical books and journals these men were the first to cross, what was then, unexplored land. But what many of these historical writings conveniently forget to include is that these men were only the first white European men to discover and explore our land. The Aboriginals had been inhabitants of our land long before any white man had set foot on Australian soil, and they knew their land well. Without the help and assistance of many Aboriginal groups and guides, many more white European expedi

6. Ryan, Simon. The Cratographic Eye: How Explorers saw Australia, Cambridge, 1996, ch.6: ‘Contesting the Gaze of Ownership’

The Aboriginal guides were not only useful for finding water and providing skilled information to the Europeans. Many of the explorers exploited their use and treated them as types of ambassadors. The explorers would send their guide ahead to introduce them to the next group that they wanted to pass through, allowing them to stand back and wait for the all clear. The Europeans, who felt that they were doing no wrong in invading the Aboriginals spatial and cultural boundaries, were pleased with peaceful receptions. The Aboriginals therefore provided a sense of protection for the explorers. Sturt himself stated that he ‘doubt(ed) very much whether (they) should have ever pushed so far down the river, had we not been assisted by the natives themselves’. Just like true intelligence corps the explorers exploited each situation to get the most information out of it as possible. No expense was spared, they had to go on, continue their role as conquers, and savor and record all the information and skills that they had learnt along the way to pass onto those who would follow.

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