Connecting the Dots: Case Studies into the ‘Invisible Presence’ of Aboriginal People Living in Victoria

Abstract

Recognising that invasion is a structure not an event (Wolfe, 2006) and that settler colonialism shapes the present in significant ways, this thesis investigates the invisible presence of Aboriginal Victorians through a study of the Victorian gold rush and Australian Rules football. As key markers of Australian national identity, the case studies demonstrate the importance of white belonging to identity construction and argue that Aboriginal Victorians are necessarily invisibly present within the settler colonial present (Veracini, 2015).