· Forget Captain Cook, the Dutch and the Portuguese: sovereignty over Australia's north was claimed by great Asian maritime empires for hundreds of years before Europeans ever crossed the Pacific or Indian Ocean.
· Long before Europeans arrived, Arnhem Land's people travelled widely as crew on foreign ships. Ancient stories accurately record the names and locations of island and cities to Australia's north, as well as telling of exotic ancient explorers and settlers on Australian shores.
· When Europeans first arrived in the region in the 16th century, long before any of them ever set foot on Australian soil, they heard stories from traders in Sulawesi of gold in Arnhem Land. When the British first explored the north coast they discovered gold bearing rocks, along with piles of manganese and tine stockpiled on beaches ready for export, and Yolgnu people in NE Arnhem Land cultivating and trading pearls long before Mikimoto was ever born.
· Now a huge stone in a remote bay in Arnhem Land proves that fisherman from Indonesia's remote eastern islands were not only fishing in Australian waters before the 17th century; they were actively husbanding and conserving stock.
The history of Australia's north coast is a story of ancient industry and international trade with tentacles that reached as far as China. It tells of travel to the far reaches of the world where an old, mid-19th century Groote Eylandt man, spoke of chasing huge fish across cold seas and hunting furred creatures on seas hard as stone.
It's a story of great, forgotten empires on Australia's doorstep and rich Sultans who claimed that Australia's north as their own long before Cook laid eyes on it.
It's a story very few Australians know about.
When marine biologist Graeme Dobson asked elders about the origins of a strange stone structure in the middle of a bay, off a tiny island, near the coast of Arnhem Land they replied 'Not ours', and so began a remarkable quest that became a mystery wrapped in an adventure, folded into history. His research took him to the far corners of Arnhem Land and into the Seas and Islands to its north. It led him back through time, past missionaries, colonists, huge fishing fleets, Dutch map-makers, Portuguese explorers-come-slavers, unknown settlers and miners, and pearl cultivating tribesmen until he finally found the answer in another bay off another tiny island, this time in the remote Indonesian Aru Islands.
This is a mystery/adventure with a difference, plus fascinating insights into little discussed history of northern Australia.
On the phone, I have Graeme Dobson author of a new book Under the Banyan Tree – In Search of the Lost History of Australia's North Coast
Question 1: What impact do your discoveries have on our understanding of Australian history?
Question 2: Did anyone claim sovereignty over North Australia before the English?
Question 3: How much did Arnhem Land people know about the outside world?
Question 4: Was there mining, commercial fishing and pearl cultivation in Australia before Captain Cook?
Question 5: Where can Australians go to purchase the book?
About Boolarong Press
In 1976, with extensive experience in the printing industry, Leslie Padman OBE began Boolarong Publications in Bowen Hills because all of the book publishers were in Sydney and Melbourne. He wanted to give Queenslanders the opportunity to have their manuscripts published and printed by Queensland businesses. He started a relationship with Watson Ferguson and Company (est. 1868) to print his publications. Padman started with art books and prints initially, but then closely followed by history and biographies.
In 1985 Padman sold the business to Watson Ferguson and Company. Since 1995 both Watson Ferguson and Company and Boolarong Press has been owned by the Kelly family.
Boolarong Press continue the tradition of both Watson Ferguson and Boolarong with history and biographies, but have now added more genres as seen by our category list. Boolarong Press are members of the Australian Publishers Association and The Small Press Network.
About Graeme Dobson
Graeme graduated with a Degree in Applied Science from the Northern Territory University when he was in his forties, followed by an MSc in aquaculture conducted in some of the most isolated locations on the Kimberley coast. He went on to establish a business developing aquaculture in remote Indigenous communities which won him two Prime Minister's Awards. Graeme was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship to further his studies in Europe, a prestigious Federal Fisheries Scholarship and contracts to develop village based aquaculture in Eastern Indonesia. In 2015 he was awarded a PhD from the Australian National University for his studies in the historic ties between North Australia and the islands of Eastern Indonesia.
He and his wife, Barbara, are now building a house on a hill overlooking Gympie.
