Jan Critchett challenges some of strongly held opinions about Aboriginal culture: that their only shelters were frail
mia-mias
, that they were nomadic and had no attachment to a particular area of land, and that they were simple hunters and gatherers. With a particular focus on the Western District of Victoria, known under the Squatting Act as Portland Bay, Critchett begins and ends the book with the story of Hissing Swan or Kaawirn Kuunawarn.