First Inventors

This is what a history of Australia looks like when it has Indigenous perspectives at its heart.

For over 65,000 years, people have made this continent their own through language, song, water and fire. The First Inventors tells their story. It is a history of innovation, diplomacy and design, and a celebration of the survival and resilience of cultural knowledge. It explores how people managed and engineered entire landscapes, and how they orchestrated seascapes according to the stars, tides and relationships with animal kin.

The First Inventors is grounded in the idea of Country: a transformative way of seeing, and relating to, the world. It honours old ways of knowing and relates fresh insights from cutting-edge collaborative research: from astronomy, navigation and ancient memory systems to archaeology, pottery and international trade.

Based on the stunning SBS and Channel 10 TV series, The First Inventors is a story of hope, wonder and possibility.

'A dazzling history that is anchored in the knowledges and practices of the Ancestors. With vivid prose and a wonderful sense of story, The First Inventors offers a different way of relating to the history and future of the continent.' Rachel Perkins

'Celebrates how our people shaped the landscape through curiosity, care and invention.' Professor Wesley Enoch AM

'An instant classic' Robyn Williams AO

'A big story in every sense of the word' Professor Lynette Russell AM

'To read this exciting, paradigm-shifting work is to see the history of our continent anew.' Sydney Morning Herald