Australia's first teaching materials on the history of South Sea Islander immigrants have been published for use in Queensland schools from 1998.
Two text books, for primary and secondary students, have been developed in close co-operation with Queensland's South Sea Islander communities with funding from Education Queensland and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's AusAID program.
Associate Professor Clive Moore, of the University of Queensland's History Department, co-authored the secondary school text with Ms Sharon Bennett, senior geography co-ordinator at Brisbane's Hillbrook Anglican School, and Dr Max Quanchi, representing Queensland University of Technology and the Queensland History Teachers' Association.
Dr Moore said publication was the culmination of three years' work, after 20 years of pressure by South Sea Islander communities to have their history documented and taught in schools.
'This is the first time there has been material on South Sea Islanders available in schools,' he said.8898888
'Academic material has been produced, but it hasn't gone into the school system.'
The curriculum materials provide a wide variety of sources on the history and present-day life of Islander communities, descendents of about 50,000 indentured labourers brought to Queensland from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and island Papua New Guinea between 1863 and 1904 to work on sugar plantations.
Often described as Kanakas, the Islanders - about one-third of whom also have Aboriginal ancestry - had blended into the wider black community, Dr Moore said.
'They are immigrants with a separate history, and they have had quite a battle over the years to get government assistance in their own right, rather than as part of the Aboriginal community,' he said.
Dr Moore said one the most difficult aspects of producing the texts was reaching agreement with Islander communities over the issue of kidnapping and slavery. Most Islander families believed their ancestors were kidnapped and brought to Australia as slaves, while academic historians did not believe indenture was slavery.
'There was a total mismatch between their view of this aspect of their history and ours,' he said.
'In the end, what we stressed was that history is about interpretation, and there will always be different views of the historical process, even different accounts of the same event.
'We have dealt with this issue of interpretation in the unit designed for upper secondary school units. We have put the Islanders' views into the text by getting new material from the communities and giving them input into interpretation and criticism of the text, balanced against historical accuracy.'
Dr Moore said the texts were the first materials specifically written for school use and prepared with the communities' blessings, using oral and folk history.
Stories featured in the primary school text include those of Kerry Penola of Mackay, Darrin Penola of Mackay, Des Eggmoless of Mt Isa, Hazel Summer of Brisbane, Les Kia of Rockhampton, Norma Douglas of Rockhampton, and other Islander families from around Queensland and northern New South Wales.
Islanders whose stories are featured in the secondary school text include community elders Warren (Joe) Leo of Rockhampton and Phyllis Corwa of Chinderah, NSW, Les Togo and Bunny Carter, both of PottsvilleWaters, NSW, and Jarasandha Backo of Yeppoon.
'As historians, we have encouraged these communities to take possession of their own histories. There is no way the project could have gone ahead without community input in the form of photos, stories and criticism,' Dr Moore said.
'The problem now is getting teachers to use the material. It has been sent out to all schools but that doesn't mean it will be used.
'The important thing is to alert schools it is in the system and teachers should be looking for them.'
Dr Moore said he hoped the texts would be used outside Queensland in studies of race relations or political pressure groups.
'Material in the secondary school book particularly is relevant, with the Australian South Sea Islanders United Council (ASSIUC) providing an example of a pressure group whose members tried for more than 20 years to get what they wanted,' he said.
'I hope that the product is worthwhile and is used in schools. In the long haul, we produced a valuable resource for use by Australian students which provides a sensitive history of one important immigrant community, and allows them to be proud of their achievements in Australia.
'I hope we have gone some way to fulfil the desires of this unique ethnic community to be recognised as integral and valued in the development of our nation.'
Dr Moore was born and raised in Mackay, home of Australia's largest South Sea Islander population. He has been researching their history since 1973, work which led to his adoption into the Rakwane descent group in the Solomon Islands, the original home of the Fatnownas, a leading Mackay South Sea Islander family.
For more information, contact Dr Moore on 0419 676 123.
