Travis Cutler

A thematic offering on sexuality from Australian Historical Studies (AHS) and an assortment of political history from the Australian Journal of Politics & History (AJPH). The first promises a diverse collection of articles that ‘not only speak productively to each other but also provocatively continue the project of putting historically framed sexual questions, and sexually framed historical questions, into scholarly debate’ but actually delivers something more modest. The second lacks this kind of thematic ambition, yet manages to surprise us with the weight of its straightforward historical sensitivity.

The first time Mary Ellen Jordan’s name appeared in ABR (June 2001), it was followed by a brief, heated exchange. Bruce Pascoe responded to her ‘Letter from Maningrida’ mixing accusations of betrayal with a series of familiar analogies, in a stern warning that this kind of fearless journalism was not wanted. Melissa Mackey moved to Jordan’s defence. She had read courage, not fearless journalism, and, in open frustration, ended her reply by simply asking: ‘then what can we say?’ I read Balanda: My Year in Arnhem Land as part answer, part re-examination of that question.

In 2002, during the scandal and scrambling caused by Keith Windschuttle’s The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, an unassuming paperback made its way onto the shelf without much fanfare. No radio specials, opinion pieces or public debates followed its publication. Instead, David McKnight and his book From Hunting to Drinking: The Devastating Effects of Alcohol 011 an Australian Aboriginal Community slipped past Australian historians and intellectu­als while they focused their attention elsewhere.