Publishers of a controversial Junior Atlas on Indigenous Australia will cease production until the book is reviewed.
Released on February 8, the Macquarie Dictionary and Pan MacMillan Australia’s Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia copped severe criticism for its representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and histories and its references to alcohol abuse and petrol sniffing.
On Tuesday, the publisher responded to backlash by “temporarily withholding further supply” of the atlas whilst it undergoes a “further sensitivity read”.
In a statement to NITV News, Macquarie Dictionary said the feedback received on the book, made them realise it needed another “sensitivity read”.
Professor Anita Heiss called out the Junior Atlas on Twitter. Source: Living Black
Where's Wiradjuri?
Wiradjuri author and academic Professor Anita Heiss was one of the first to call out the publishers on Twitter, after receiving a copy in the mail.
Professor Heiss told NITV News she was “horrified” at the content, and feels as though the response provided by Pan MacMillan and Macquarie Dictionary is merely “damage control”.
Tweeting on Tuesday night, Professor Heiss warned Australian publishers that sensitivity reads are “not sufficient when producing First Nations content”.
“You need to enlist the services of qualified First Nations editors, authors, knowledge keepers to get it right. Until then, we will keep calling you out,” she wrote.
The established author spoke out about the altas’ exclusion of reference to Wiradjuri People, culture or language.
“I flicked to the index. ‘Wiradjuri’ doesn’t appear. Given the book speaks of language and we have one of the strongest language reclamation programs in the country, I’m pretty disappointed,” she said.
“Surely if an atlas is a book of maps, then this book of maps would need to mention Wiradjuri nation – the largest nation on any map of the state of NSW!”
She also noted the disrespect for Dr Stan Grant Snr for the exclusion of his work, saying it was “literally ignored”.
Professor Heiss told NITV News that this extends beyond the exclusion of Wiradjuri, but rather into the views and representations the book holds.
Macquarie Dictionary told NITV News that the junior atlas is “based on” the “Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia (1ED 2005, 2ED 2019), produced collaboratively by ANU, the ABS and Macquarie Dictionary.”
“The Junior edition comprises a selection of material from the full Atlas, rewritten and redesigned to a level suitable for younger readers, from upper primary and early secondary years,” they said.
Macquarie Dictionary noted the atlas is “not a traditional atlas . . . nor is it an encyclopedia”.
A "white wash" of information
Of the 40 authors, Macquarie Dictionary confirmed that one-third were Indigenous, with non-Indigenous authors having “spent their professional lives working with communities on Indigenous issues.”
Gomeroi social worker, activist and founder of the Traditional Place Names campaign Rachael McPhail told NITV News said the book was a white washing.
Gomeroi woman Rachael McPhail Source: Change.com
“Only a third of the authors were First Nations, and the two editors that put the entire book together were non-Indigenous. It hasn’t used that First Nations lens, it has a colonised lens on it," she said.
Ms McPhail questioned if a sensitivity read was enough.
“If they’re doing a sensitivity read – who is doing the reading? It needs to be reviewed by a First Nations person. I don’t understand how you can check it for sensitivity for racism and oppression if it’s not being done by a person from community, or people – it should be a panel," she said.
"The whole book needs to be scrapped and taken off shelves. If they want to do an atlas . . . it should be a First Nations led project, it should have First Nations authors only and it should be edited by First Nations People.
"There is no excuse that in 2022 that there is a book being released about First Nations People written and edited by white people."
Bardi and Kija woman Sharon Davis also criticised the publisher's choice, saying a sensitivity review was "a bit on the lighter side".
Bardi & Kija academic Sharon Davis Source: Supplied
An esteemed academic, Ms Davis holds a bachelor of education in primary school teaching and studied a master's in applied linguistics and second language acquisition at Oxford University in the UK.
"I would prefer they pulled it and did a full review with a panel of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and education experts," she said.
The issues of representation
Ms Davis expressed concerns around the physical representations of Indigenous people.
"Every picture in that book is of dark-skinned Aboriginal people, it's a stereotypical perception of what a 'real Aboriginal' person is. I don't recall seeing any photos of an Aboriginal person who was lighter-skinned, or was presented as a professional," Ms Davis said.
The academic also called out the atlas for its inappropriate references to petrol sniffing and alcohol use, without the context of colonisation.
In Chapter 27 of the atlas, petrol sniffing is described as a “damaging form of drug use among young people” which had “spread to an increasing number of communities”. It referenced the introduction of low-aromatic, lead-free fuel which contributed to the rate of people petrol sniffing “dramatically”.
Ms Davis noted that information is provided “without referencing the cause(s) such as dispossession, genocide, colonisation etc."
"The way they positioned alcohol and petrol sniffing, it's not the 1970s. Even when presenting alcohol use, there was stuff in there linking it to domestic violence. Having that pointed out in an Indigenous Australia atlas, makes it sound like its an Indigenous problem - why put it in there?" Ms Davis asked.
"If you're going to do that, look at what someone like Dr June Oscar did to fight alcohol abuse in the Fitzroy."
Macquarie Dictionary told NITV News at the start of Chapter 27, it was acknowledged that health outcomes are severely impacted “by the process of colonisation”.
“The Junior Atlas does cover some extremely sensitive topics, substance abuse being one,” they said.
“We would expect teachers to take the opportunity to explore direct causal relationships with their students. To that end, we will include this information in the Teaching Notes that are available as a companion to the Atlas.”
The onus on educators
Despite the book being made for classroom contexts, Ms Davis said its not unlikely the atlas would be read independently.
"It's under the presumption that a child doesn't pick it up out of the library and just read it. Kids can go into the library . . . whether they're Aboriginal or not, pick up this book and see on the first page they open Petrol Sniffing. How are children meant to unpack that?" she asked.
"Its all well and good that it's in there for teachers, but we know through lots of work in the education space, the engagement of teachers with content related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and us ourselves, is quite limited. A lot of the reasons are they're scared to make a mistake or say the wrong thing, so they look to resources like the atlas ... to teach from. Thinking that anything in that book is going to be right."
Macquarie Dictionary advised NITV News that context surrounding colonisation and petrol sniffing and alcohol use, and information around the existence of dry communities is included in the “Teaching Notes”.
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They were also criticised for the lack of information around religious expansion, and the realities of dispossession, and mission life for Aboriginal people.
"Why have you left out the truth-telling part of missions in your newly revitalised text?" Ms Davis asked Pan MacMillan via Twitter.
"This makes the 'evangelising and civilising' of our people sound almost like it was a good thing. Where's the theft of our land, language, culture and lives of our ancestors?"
Macquarie Dictionary responded, saying it was certainly not "intended to be racist or harmful".
“We acknowledge that a detailed statement of the actions of, and conditions, policies and processes enforced by, government, white settlers, church, and others, that directly led to substance abuse is warranted in relation to this section. We will include this information in the Teaching Notes," they said.
In response to Professor Heiss' concerns on the exclusion of Wiradjuri, Macquarie Dictionary said there “is only a small section on revitalisation programs in the Junior Atlas, and none of the individual programs are mentioned.”
It said the “Teaching Notes” ask “students to research the languages of their region, and to find out what their status is, including if they are undergoing revitalisation.”
“In addition, because this is not a traditional atlas or encyclopedia, in which you would expect to find every language group and their Country, language groups are mentioned when given as examples, etc., in the particular topic,” they said.
Uplifting Blak excellence
With the atlas currently under review, many hope its perspective shifts to strength.
“There is so much Blak excellence out in the world, I just don’t understand why there is this constant need to talk about the negative, the negative narrative. Let’s get some positive stories happening, some positive resources out in the world," said Ms McPhail.
Ms Davis described the lack of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander success in the atlas as a "huge missed opportunity".
"We have astrophysics, astrologists, doctors, lawyers, I have so many sisters and brother boys that have gone to Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, University of London. You have people like Anita Heiss, Professor Bronwyn Fredricks, Doctor Tracey Westermann," she said.
"It's 2022, and we have so many deadly amazing people, it's time to show them."
