Picturing Dispossession with Dr Bruce Pennay OAM

In the countdown to 2026 History Week and Social Science Week, Adjunct Associate Professor Bruce Pennay from Charles Sturt University reviews picture stories, as told with the help of Yalmambirra and Paul Grover. He draws attention to a readily available evidence trail drawing on locally based witness reports of the new thrown togetherness of the 1840s.

With this session, Bruce extends Albury & District Historical Society’s attempt to help schools in the border district explore local dimensions of the topic ‘First Nations People’s Experiences of Colonisation’, which becomes mandatory in middle secondary schools from the beginning of 2027. He hopes to enable teachers to meet the curriculum requirement of devising inquiry-based learning activities that draw attention to the complications of evidence-based storytelling.

Bruce also looks to assist local historians, beyond schools, to explore the pace and scale of dispossession. He poses questions about how and why school and local historians approach the topic.