Help Desk

Site Overview
"Indigenous Australiana" is a site that focuses on the Aboriginal Adnyamathanha group of the South Australian Flinders Ranges. Through the use of various media, this site aims to develop a wide variety of skills and broader knowledge about the Australian Aboriginal groups for people of all ages. We aim to develop a better understanding of Australian Aboriginal culture, in particular Adnyamathanha beliefs and culture, and to counter negative stereotypes. This site focuses on the Dreaming stories of the Adnyamathanha people as well as their environment, language, lifestyle, and visual arts. We will also discuss the subject of reconciliation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians and the eight key issues involved. There is an extensive activities section for teachers and students of primary and secondary schooling. It covers language, art, cultural and extended learning activities such as acrostic, image and word recognition, crosswords with movable letters, scenes with moveable images, planning camp sites, analysis of dreaming stories, critical thinking and source analysis activities, and easy to access galleries of images and icons so that students can create their own web pages.

This site is designed to be used in a variety of ways by teachers and students. The site allows students to be self-directed or teacher directed. Work sheets are available in the Activities section and are divided into levels; primary school and secondary school. Students may work as individuals in pairs or in groups.

Teacher Help
Australian Aborigines is the focus of the site. Teachers can address the needs of their curriculum where the study and appreciation of Indigenous Australians or Indigenous people are to be studied.

Through this site we present a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, which encourage source analysis skills. The site encourages the understanding of cultural processes, experiences and meanings. The site attempts to provide the opportunity for students to become exposed to other cultures and discusses proposed ideas with others through the use of the class activities provided.

The sources play an important role in empathy and consequently the understanding of the culture, values and experiences. Information about the Adnymathanha group includes images of the landscape, their art and artifacts.

The site encourages students to participate in reading and writing analysis. Students are invited to visit the photo gallery and send postcards and use the gallery of images and icons to create their own web pages.

Navigation Bar and Footprints Pathway
The boomerang is the navigation bar and by rolling over the burnt decorations of the boomerang users may view the topics with their subtopic titles.

Topics that contain more than one page include feet at the bottom of these pages. The number of feet indicates the number of pages in this section. The highlighted foot indicates the page number being viewed. These feet are also links to the relevant pages.

Educational Objectives
The educational objectives are to:
· encourage and foster analysis of ideas about the aboriginal culture and experiences
· promote interest in other cultures
· utilise the source for teaching and learning in a variety of teaching and learning areas
· promote indigenous Australian culture to a broad audience who would otherwise not have access to this information
· raise awareness of the range of issues and concerns of indigenous Australians and hence society.

Information About the Site
"Indigenous Australiana" is based on Aboriginal culture and experiences, we focused on the Adnyamathanha group of the Flinders Ranges to give a specific overview of one group in detail. We have incorporated a variety of media to help the students reinforce their knowledge of Australia and Aborigines. The site is divided into different sections, as represented on the boomerang navigation bar, they are: Perspective, the Land, Beliefs, Social Structure, Art, Lifestyle and Activities. In each section footprints at the bottom of the page direct the user to the next page of that section and give an indication to the number of pages in the section.

The images include South Australian museum exhibitions from the Adnyathanha group and real landscape, artefacts and art pictures from actual Aboriginal sites. The Activities section includes work sheets and curriculum for students, and the recommended educational level eg. Upper Secondary, Middle or Primary. The Activities also include interactive word recognition which enable students to learn some Andymathanha vocabulary which gives them a feel for the culture and language. An Adnyamathanha woman speaks the words. There are crosswords and puzzles for the students to test their acquired knowledge including self marking multiple choice tests, and there is a click-and-drag interactive Animals of Australia page.

Student Help
This site was designed by students for students. It is for those who are interested in other cultures or who would like to know more about Aborigines in Australia. There are native Australiana images which can be sent as postcards to your friends and fun activities to do online. Share your ideas and comments through the message board. Who are the Indigenous Australians? What are they concerned about today?

The Information Desk is the page you just left. From the information desk you can view the three different help pages (all aimed at a different audience). The General Help (this page) gives an outline of each section. The aim of this summary outline, is to give visitors an idea of what our site contains and to help them decide which section interests them the most.

The Teacher Help is aimed at teachers. It contains teacher worksheets and assignments as well as ideas on how they can use this site to its full potential in their lessons. The Student Help points out the areas of interest for students as well as the places they can go to learn about Indigenous Australians.

PERSPECTIVE
This section gives an overview of Aborigines in Australia. It covers who is an Aborigine, what and where the Aboriginal groups are in relation to geographical Australia and a brief history of Aborigines in Australia, their origins and later their treatment by the Europeans. This then brings us to the present day with plans of Reconciliation and its 8 Key Issues.

LAND
Here we learn the basics of the Flinders Ranges, the land of the Adnyamathanha people. This section covers the nature of the environment such as its location, land forms, climate, water, vegetation, wildlife and tourist attractions. We explore the unique bond between the Aborigines and the land, their sacred sites and the impact of European settlement.

BELIEFS
The Aboriginal belief system based on the Dreaming plays a crucial role in their society. In this section we review relationship between the dreaming and the individual and the land. Dreaming stories are included to allow students to gain a feel of the nature of their belief system.

ART
Through time the indigenous Australians developed a unique form of art, which has been modified into contemporary Aboriginal Art. This section covers their traditional, contemporary and rock art.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Indigenous Australians had a complex social structure, which was intricately connected with other Aboriginal Groups. They had their own laws, authority, punishment and kinship systems. They had established trade routines and ceremonies for initiation, funerals and marriages. Each person in the community had specific roles to perform throughout their daily life. In this section we also look at an Aboriginal childhood and the games they developed.

LIFE STYLE
The Aboriginal lifestyle varies greatly to those of other cultures. In this section we look at their use of Food, Water, Plants, Animals, Technology, Medicine, Clothing, Shelter, Weapons, Wooden Implements and Stone Tools.

IMAGES
Images are available of the Iga Warta Tour in the Flinders Ranges, Adnyamathanha art and artifacts from the Adelaide Museum and images of the native Flora and Fauna.

ACTIVITIES
Activities are interactive and loads of fun! This section includes word recognition, class curriculums, individual or group activities, crosswords, multiple choice tests and click and drag animals. The sources we used which made the authenticity of this site possible are cited on the Citations page.

TEAM PAGE
A page that gives a glimpse of the multimedia team that were the makers of this site.

POSTCARDS
Here you can create an electronic postcard of the Australiana landscapes and animals to send to your friends.

MESSAGES
Here students are able to leave comments and questions or write to the team.