A Great Southern Land

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COLLECTION SUMMARYImagined by Europeans for centuries, the great southern land was home to First Nations people for millennia, their lives intimately connected to the land and waters. New arrivals from Europe described and categorized flora, fauna, and people, recording thousands of details. Cartographers and surveyors mapped coastlines and landforms, naming and claiming territories hundreds of generations old. Yet, despite their accomplishments, they missed important lessons about the vast dry continent and its first people. The History Trust has significant collections associated with European scientific and geographic endeavors. Often described as exploration or discovery; they were also acts of colonization and dispossession.

Chronometer used on the SS Grace Darling. State History Collection, HT 1987.1273