Hi all, @LukeLPearson from IndigenousX here, how are you all (don’t @ me if you're not mob)?

That’s good to hear :)

So anyway, I saw that awesome thread from @Flashblak about her removing all the shit resources from her son’s school’s library (read it if you haven’t - then come back here and read this one). https://twitter.com/flashblak/status/1311234368988307457

I’ve deaccessioned a few school libraries myself over the years (also unpaid), and as there isn't a database of shit resources as @flashblak suggested (great idea btw!)

I thought I'd share some tips for selecting and evaluating resources about Indigenous ppls and cultures.

Pretty much all of this info comes from an old document by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority first written in the 1990s (but since updated) that you can find here: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach2/indigenous_g008_0712.pdf (download it as you never know when something will go offline!)

The guide tells us there are 5 key evaluation criteria to think about:

1. authenticity
2. balanced nature of the presentation
3. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation
4. accuracy and support
5. exclusion of content of a secret or sacred nature.

Each of these are then broken down into questions you should ask, things to look out for, and recommended actions to take. There are heaps of questions in the document, but here are some of my faves:

Eg questions to ask in evaluating the authenticity of a resource are:
Is the material up to date?
The guide suggests not to use any material published before 1980 but I would suggest that it could easily be bumped up to 1990 (which is 30 years ago - we are all so old!!).

Now that's not to say there weren't some good resources back then or that there aren't plenty of shit ones still being pumped out today, but it's a good general rule to follow until someone is skilled in evaluating resources and can use their own better judgement.

- Are illustrations and photographs positive and accurate portrayals of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, and relevant to the text?

I remember one 'Food' page that for its image had an Aboriginal person on their knees biting a lizard's head off. No caption, no context, just a kid biting a lizard’s head off...

It looked a little bit exactly like this:

Are they eating that lizard? Or maybe they are just breaking its neck? Who knows, the text says fuck all about it either way.

That worksheet has a few other red flags worth pointing out.

“The types of food eaten today are very different from those that Aboriginal people ate.” What, like meats and fruits and veg and whatnot? Yep, super different!

Also, all of those foods are still eaten today, fuck ya!

It relegates mobs to hunters and gatherers with a ‘men hunt and women gather’ binary.

It claims there are ‘three main regions where food was available - land, sea, and bush’ which is... cool.

And white people didn’t have ‘modern day’ appliances pre-1788 either, fuck ya!

- Does the resource exclude some readers by assuming a European background?

This usually happens in texts that address the readers as ‘you’ or ‘we’ eg “Aboriginal people don’t use GPS on their phones to navigate like we do - they use the stars!”

That one is problematic for other reasons too - it universalises Aboriginal skillsets eg I can’t navigate via the stars for shit, but it also compares pre-invasion Indigenous to modern Western eg before white ppl came to Australia they didn’t navigate with GPS’s either!

Over generalising / past present problems are common where people don’t take the time to acknowledge that many past practices are actually still current practices, but not for all Aboriginal people due to the impacts of colonisation.

Another issue that over-generalising ties into is pan-Indigenous portrayals eg not a lot of inland mob would’ve been getting a lot of their food from the sea, leaving only ‘land and bush’ (Are rivers land food or bush food?)

There are a lot of other great questions in the list too, like:

Does the resource exclude Torres Strait Islander people? (I'm not sure which resource you are looking at right now, but the answer is probably yes... seriously, just grab the nearest resource and it will be a yes)

Does the resource emphasise the “exotic” to the exclusion of other cultural aspects?

Does the material present information about secret and/or sacred items, practices, sites, representations?

And some of the biggest ones you should be checking:

Is the author Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?

Does the resource acknowledge Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation in the research, writing and presentation processes?

Is the material about your local area or state?

This is such a huge one...

Has the material been endorsed by local, regional, state or territory Aboriginal education consultative groups?

Has the material been endorsed by other Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander groups?

There are so many resources like this that can help you to do your job instead of relying on Aboriginal parents or community members to do this work for you… eg, the work that you get paid for but we don't.

Now go, go do your job (or give @flashblak a paycheque - either way)!