An Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography. The project will research Indigenous biography through collaboration between Indigenous researchers and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly underrepresented in the ADB. The project will work with Indigenous communities to produce the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography, a supplementary volume of the ADB on 190 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for use by ....An Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography. The project will research Indigenous biography through collaboration between Indigenous researchers and the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are significantly underrepresented in the ADB. The project will work with Indigenous communities to produce the Indigenous Australian Dictionary of Biography, a supplementary volume of the ADB on 190 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for use by scholars, students, and the public, and publish research articles that reframe Indigenous biographical practice. The project aims to foster reconciliation, national knowledge and pride in the ancient and modern contribution of Indigenous Australians to the nation, and to facilitate Indigenous participation at all levels of research and production.Read moreRead less
The genomic history of Indigenous Australia. The aim of the project is to analyse genomic DNA from historic hair samples collected by anthropological expeditions in the early 20th century to generate a detailed genetic map of Aboriginal Australia and to reconstruct Australia’s pre-European genetic history. The genomic data and detailed contextual and genealogical information from museum archives will be used to work with Aboriginal individuals to trace past population movements and augment oral ....The genomic history of Indigenous Australia. The aim of the project is to analyse genomic DNA from historic hair samples collected by anthropological expeditions in the early 20th century to generate a detailed genetic map of Aboriginal Australia and to reconstruct Australia’s pre-European genetic history. The genomic data and detailed contextual and genealogical information from museum archives will be used to work with Aboriginal individuals to trace past population movements and augment oral historical records. The project aims to reconstruct the first detailed genomic history of indigenous Australia, including adaptation to the challenging Australian environment, and to generate important information for indigenous communities and the Australian public more widely.Read moreRead less
Using genetics to reconstruct the peopling and diversification of Sahul. A recent landmark study has revealed that people who first arrived on Sahul (the landmass connecting Australia with New Guinea) remained largely genetically isolated from subsequent migrations. However, there is still little known about the route(s) taken into Sahul, or how adaptation has shaped the enormous diversity now observed across Indigenous Australians and Papuans. This project aims to look at these issues by applyi ....Using genetics to reconstruct the peopling and diversification of Sahul. A recent landmark study has revealed that people who first arrived on Sahul (the landmass connecting Australia with New Guinea) remained largely genetically isolated from subsequent migrations. However, there is still little known about the route(s) taken into Sahul, or how adaptation has shaped the enormous diversity now observed across Indigenous Australians and Papuans. This project aims to look at these issues by applying phylogenetic and population genetic tools to the largest genetic dataset yet analysed from populations across Australia, New Guinea, and Island South East Asia. The outcomes of the project should reveal both the route(s) taken into Sahul and how adaptation has shaped the diversity now observed in descendants of the colonisation.Read moreRead less
Early collections of Warlpiri cultural heritage and resulting community access needs in remote desert Australia. Led by Warlpiri elder, Steven Wanta Patrick, this project will assess collections of Warlpiri cultural heritage. It will address the enormous Warlpiri interest in gaining access to their cultural heritage, and using these for local initiatives that improve youth engagement with tradition, dialogues across generations and cultures, and community well-being.
Northland Secondary College: Koori kids' education. This project aims to chart the extraordinary history of the closure and eventual re-opening of Northland Secondary College (1992-1995). This is an episode known to Melbourne Aboriginal communities but despite its historical, political, legal and sociological significance, is largely overlooked in scholarly accounts. The project will deliver scholarly research resources and analysis, publicly accessible outputs and will provide culturally approp ....Northland Secondary College: Koori kids' education. This project aims to chart the extraordinary history of the closure and eventual re-opening of Northland Secondary College (1992-1995). This is an episode known to Melbourne Aboriginal communities but despite its historical, political, legal and sociological significance, is largely overlooked in scholarly accounts. The project will deliver scholarly research resources and analysis, publicly accessible outputs and will provide culturally appropriate accounts of this history.Read moreRead less
Indigenous leaders: lawful relations from encounter to treaty. This project aims to draw together history, law and the creative arts to recover, make visible and make accessible the continuous traditions of Indigenous people’s leadership in conducting lawful relations in Victoria. The project aims to develop methods of translating these encounters and their insights. The intended outcomes should shape critical deliberations on the future of non-Indigenous Australia’s legal and social relationshi ....Indigenous leaders: lawful relations from encounter to treaty. This project aims to draw together history, law and the creative arts to recover, make visible and make accessible the continuous traditions of Indigenous people’s leadership in conducting lawful relations in Victoria. The project aims to develop methods of translating these encounters and their insights. The intended outcomes should shape critical deliberations on the future of non-Indigenous Australia’s legal and social relationships with its First Peoples, particularly regarding treaty-making.Read moreRead less
New ways for old ceremonies: an archival research project. This research aims to develop and implement suitable Indigenous frameworks for the preservation, interpretation and dissemination of the recordings of ceremonial performances in the Wagait-Daly region of the Northern Territory of Australia. The focus is a body of recordings, made by early anthropologists and missionaries, of final mortuary ceremony performances. The ceremonial performance is a key process for integrating Indigenous knowl ....New ways for old ceremonies: an archival research project. This research aims to develop and implement suitable Indigenous frameworks for the preservation, interpretation and dissemination of the recordings of ceremonial performances in the Wagait-Daly region of the Northern Territory of Australia. The focus is a body of recordings, made by early anthropologists and missionaries, of final mortuary ceremony performances. The ceremonial performance is a key process for integrating Indigenous knowledge from many different domains, a socially powerful site of exchange, transmission and transformation of relationship to country, kin and identity. The aim is to extend the power of ceremony in order to benefit Indigenous people's identity and Australia's shared history in the future.Read moreRead less
Children born of war: Australia and the War in the Pacific 1941 - 1944. Many thousands of mixed-race children were born in Australia due to a range of circumstances when more than one million allied troops were stationed here during the Second World War. These children are the embodied challenge to all of the nations involved, to provide the opportunity for a family background for identity and wellbeing. In seeking to understand the circumstances that brought them into the world, some have been ....Children born of war: Australia and the War in the Pacific 1941 - 1944. Many thousands of mixed-race children were born in Australia due to a range of circumstances when more than one million allied troops were stationed here during the Second World War. These children are the embodied challenge to all of the nations involved, to provide the opportunity for a family background for identity and wellbeing. In seeking to understand the circumstances that brought them into the world, some have been able to resume relationships with family in the United States of America. This project will contribute to addressing the unanswered questions of these children by exploring the social contexts and interplays of gender and race in the extremities of wartime.Read moreRead less
Tracking three significant Songlines of Country. This project aims to track three significant Songlines and the intersecting and interconnected cultural relationships between northwest NSW Aboriginal language groups, and their neighbouring language groups northeast of the Darling River and northwest into northeast SA and the Corner Country. Indigenous oral history methodologies will provide a dynamic, rich and deep cultural knowledge and history of each site. The project is of major importance t ....Tracking three significant Songlines of Country. This project aims to track three significant Songlines and the intersecting and interconnected cultural relationships between northwest NSW Aboriginal language groups, and their neighbouring language groups northeast of the Darling River and northwest into northeast SA and the Corner Country. Indigenous oral history methodologies will provide a dynamic, rich and deep cultural knowledge and history of each site. The project is of major importance to Indigenous Communities in NSW, SA and QLD and will also develop the wider public’s understanding of Aboriginal history and culture. In particular, the project seeks to emphasise that Aboriginal stories are not myths and legends and are more than ‘stories’ simply understood. Aboriginal stories are lore and provide deep insight into the history of the Australian continent.Read moreRead less
More than family history: race, gender and the Aboriginal family in Australian history. This project will explore Aboriginal family histories. Historical processes and complex interplays of race and gender within the colonial period across space and over time make for complex layering in diverse Aboriginal families. Research into Aboriginal family formation reveals a strong basis for identity and wellbeing through telling foundational stories within the narrative of the nation.