Reality, on the other hand, seems to stare blindly back at this misconception, showing rapid colonial expansion that would rival our European forbears, exploding over only a few centuries, and built - sometimes contentiously - on a diverse, multi-lingual and far more ancient Indigenous heritage.

Perhaps the contention over our history as being either rich or vacant comes from the fact the narrative is still being written. 

After nearly a year in transit - and many more beneath local land - the discovery of a breastplate from an earlier part of our local history made its way back to Moree. The plate comes from a time when colonial leaders sought to replace tribal hierarchies with a more European nobility structure and has joined a collection of four similar artefacts. 

Local historian Noeline Briggs-Smith OAM is using the breastplate to reconstruct the local, historical narrative. But for all the blanks filled, the discovery has thrown into sharp relief the disjointed and fractured nature of our historical story, locally and nationally, particularly when it comes to indigenous culture.

There is no doubt more of these cultural artefacts would go a long way toward compiling a robust cultural chronology, but the anonymous delivery of the breastplate seems to indicate there are some uneasy feelings towards bringing them to light.

But Noeline’s comments in Tuesday’s Champion seem to make the bottom line all too clear. 

These artefacts and stories belong to the community and there is no denying the significance of these discoveries to recovering local heritage. As much as they shed light on the fractured narrative of indigenous culture after settlement, they similarly lend a sense of reality to colonial heritage and contribute a little more to the diverse and complex picture of who we are and where we come from.