First Australians is a six-year Australian history documentary series that premiered in October 2008. The documentary is part of a larger project that also includes a hardcover book, a community outreach program and a larger website with more than 200 mini-documents.
The series documents contemporary Australian history from the perspective of First Nations or Indigenous peoples. The series is essentially a synthesis of well-documented historical information.
It relies heavily on archival documents and interpretations by historians and Aboriginal and European community members and leaders. The story begins with the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney in 1788 and ends with Koiki Mabo challenging Australia’s statehood in 1993.
Consisting of seven episodes, the series explores what happened when the world’s oldest living culture faced off against the British Empire.
It examines the lives of specific individuals and uses their stories as a tool to explain the larger situation at the time. It explains the violent aspects of European settlement in Australia, such as murder, fighting, war, and the friendship and decency between early European settlers and Aboriginal Australians.
Until recently, Australia’s Indigenous history has been shrouded in “Australian silence”, in which ignorance of Australia’s real history can be seen as a way for non-Indigenous peoples to hide the shame of their own history.
There has been controversy in this regard, as many of these stories have never been shown on Australian television before, and Aboriginal Australian perceptions of European colonies are confrontational to many.
