The Sacred in History

Australia's major national foundational history, centred on the sacrifice at Gallipoli in the First World War, has been contested in recent years by historians interested in the Aboriginal wars which are arguably more foundational. With the violence characteristic of the founding of many states, these wars mark original invasion and settlement, yet they have scarcely been memorialized at all.' In 1998, Governor-General Sir William Deane took up this debate in strong terms saying there were `no official memorials to the Aboriginal Australians "slaughtered in the black wars" last century'? He was speaking on a 'sacred' day at the War Memorial in Canberra (Remembrance Day) launching Ken Inglis's book, Sacred Places: War memorials in the Australian landscape.3