Everywhen: Australia and the Language of Deep History

Ann McGrath · Laura Rademaker · Jakelin Troy

Feb 2023 · UNSW Press

About this eBook

Everywhen asks how knowledge systems of Aboriginal people can broaden our understanding of the past and of history. Indigenous ways of knowing, narrating, and re-enacting the past in the present blur the distinctions of time, making all history now, with questions of time and language at the heart of Indigenous sovereignty.

Edited by Ann McGrath, Laura Rademaker, and Jakelin Troy, this collection draws attention to every when showing us that history is not as straightforward as some might think.

‘“Everywhen” is a term less known to most Australians than its close relation, “The Dreaming”, but it evokes something of the richness of Indigenous understandings of time, place and spirit. This impressive collection of essays — the work of Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors writing from a range of fields and perspectives — invites us to rethink how we imagine not only Australian history but the nature, meaning and purpose of history itself.’ — Frank Bongiorno

‘A timely book that challenges ways of thinking about the past and of historical practice. It speaks to the individual via first-person narratives and the collective — discussing groups and populations, and weaves the two together in a meaningful, informative manner. Everywhen offers a fresh reflection on languages, histories and practices that readers will find interesting and informative.’ — Bronwyn Fredericks

‘A powerful book about the inter-connectedness of story, language, time, Country, and heart.’ — Terri Janke

‘At the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship, Everywhen highlights the limitations of conventional history and significantly expands our understanding of Indigenous concepts of time. This is a path-breaking collection of essays that is essential reading for Australian and international scholars.’ — Mark McKenna

About the author

Ann McGrath is the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and a Distinguished Professor at Australian National University. She is co-editor of Routledge Companion to Global Indigenous History.

Laura Rademaker is Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Fellow at the Australian National University. She is the author of Found in Translation: Many Meanings on a North Australian Mission.

Jakelin Troy is the director of Indigenous research at the University of Sydney. She is editor in chief of ab-Original: Journal of Indigenous Studies and First Nations and First Peoples’ Cultures.