Locating Settler Colonialism in the Myths of Burke and Wills

Abstract

Abstract: Within Australian settler colonial history, a process of ‘space-off’ in exploration cultural representations has created a form of erasure and denial of Aboriginal and Islamic peoples. By focusing specifically on the camels and the ‘sepoys’ employed by the Victorian Exploring Expedition in 1860, commonly known as Burke and Wills, this paper identifies examples of representation and participation which led to exploration and settlement throughout inland Australia. Using visual artworks and other secondary sources of the colonial era, with the support of more recent literature associated with cameleer and Aboriginal histories, this discussion on various representations of settler colonialism and erasure highlight specific shared histories worthy of further research.