glossary library

 

To fully understand Australia and New Zealand's history, there are a few terms you should familiarize yourself with. Find definitions and explanations in this glossary channel.

Featured Article:  How the Maori Work

The Maori, New Zealand's original settlers, fought off disease and foreign cultures to survive into the 21st century. How did they do it? See more »

How Aborigines Work

How Aborigines Work

Aborigines use stories called dreamings to keep a record of their history. But the recent history of the Aborigines is nothing like a dream.

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How Easter Island Works

How Easter Island Works

Much of Easter Island's haunting past remains a mystery, though clues have surfaced about the people, their culture and their fateful decline. What's the real story?

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What was Australia's Stolen Generation?

What was Australia's Stolen Generation?

Between 1910 and 1970, nearly 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their birth parents and placed in white foster homes as part of a government plan to phase out the Aboriginal race. So where are these children today?

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How the Maori Work

How the Maori Work

The Maori, New Zealand's original settlers, fought off disease and foreign cultures to survive into the 21st century. How did they do it?

See more »

Anzus Pact

Anzus Pact, 1951, a security treaty between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States to oppose Communist aggression.

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Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines, the earliest known inhabitants of Australia. Because of their Stone Age culture, the aborigines are of special interest to anthropologists.

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Charles Edward Stuart

Sturt, Charles (1795–1869), a British explorer, often referred to as the “father of Australian exploration.” He was the first to penetrate deep into the interior of Australia and to demonstrate the possibilities for settlement.

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John Stuart

Stuart, John McDouall (1815–1866), a Scotsman who was one of the major explorers of Australia.

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Maori

Maoris, the earliest known inhabitants of New Zealand. They are a Polynesian people who have been almost fully integrated into New Zealand's white society.

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Matthew Flinders

Flinders, Matthew (1774–1814), an English navigator. Flinders joined the British navy in 1789.

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