Congratulations Professor Anya Reading!
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.
Heard Island is possibly the remotest speck of land on the Earth. It was only in the 1850’s that the human race finally reached this most isolated of places. For the next 30 years gangs of hunters established themselves on the isolated beaches of Heard Island to slaughter the wildlife for their oil and furs and ship the products to markets half-way around the globe. The material culture remains of these enterprises survive on the beaches, comprising the remnants of the seal-hunters’ camps and their processing sites. These sites provide evidence of 19th century
sealing technology and the diverse ethnicity and cultural composition of the sealing gangs. Remains of sealers’ camps are found on many of the beaches around Heard Island but are now extremely threatened by coastal erosion. Many of these sites include tryworks situated on raised stone platforms, a form of sealing architecture thought to be unique to Heard Island.
Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Published Papers
The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.
On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
