A demographic and socio-medical history of the Aboriginal People of Victoria 1800-2000: reconstitutions and epidemiological analysis. We have produced a world-first historical demographic and epidemiological database that will be of continuing cultural and professional value to the Indigenous and research communities, and which can be copied to capture elusive mobile populations that are better identified genealogically than via conventional census methods. We will index and digitise the papers ....A demographic and socio-medical history of the Aboriginal People of Victoria 1800-2000: reconstitutions and epidemiological analysis. We have produced a world-first historical demographic and epidemiological database that will be of continuing cultural and professional value to the Indigenous and research communities, and which can be copied to capture elusive mobile populations that are better identified genealogically than via conventional census methods. We will index and digitise the papers of the late Dr Diane Barwick. Through this innovative study of past life courses we seek to understand the unique experience of 'fourth world' people in the health transition, and the deep historical forces structuring the persistent health problems of Indigenous Australians.Read moreRead less
Colonial encounters: Archaeology at Ebenezer Mission, north-western Victoria. From the 1860s, most Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia were confined to reserves such as Ebenezer Mission, and despite official accounts which argue for the success of the 'civilising' enterprise, archaeological evidence promises to provide a new Indigenous perspective. Investigation of this key site, in collaboration with Aboriginal descendants, will reveal 1. How everyday life on the mission was experience ....Colonial encounters: Archaeology at Ebenezer Mission, north-western Victoria. From the 1860s, most Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia were confined to reserves such as Ebenezer Mission, and despite official accounts which argue for the success of the 'civilising' enterprise, archaeological evidence promises to provide a new Indigenous perspective. Investigation of this key site, in collaboration with Aboriginal descendants, will reveal 1. How everyday life on the mission was experienced by different social groups: Aboriginal girls, boys, families and 'fringe' dwellers, and Moravian missionaries, 2. The role of gender organisation within the colonial process, and 3. How Aboriginal cultural identity was shaped by missionisation. A range of general and scholarly histories will be produced.Read moreRead less
Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an ac ....Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an active and ongoing participation in the creation of the bodies of kin and of the country itself. This is done in a way which actively participates in, rather than merely reproduces, the creative travels of the first ancestral beings. Phenomenology and psychoanalysis theoretically inform my approach.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal Visual Histories: Photographing Indigenous Australians. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhance our capacity to interpret ourselves by showing how we have been perceived internationally through visual imagery - and specifically what is unique about Australia and its indigenous people through international eyes. It will explore how we have represented ourselves and the place of Aboriginal people, both historically and in the present. ....Aboriginal Visual Histories: Photographing Indigenous Australians. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australia's place in the world and enhance our capacity to interpret ourselves by showing how we have been perceived internationally through visual imagery - and specifically what is unique about Australia and its indigenous people through international eyes. It will explore how we have represented ourselves and the place of Aboriginal people, both historically and in the present. It will help us to engage with our neighbours and the wider global community. Collaboration with Aboriginal descendant communities will address their current aspirations regarding this important aspect of their heritage. Read moreRead less
Seascapes, Sea People, and Indigenous Knowledge: Maritime heritage at the land/sea interface. This project will educate the broader Australian community of the complexities of Indigenous maritime heritage, by producing a clear understanding of the ways Indigenous people define and maintain seascapes. This research involves working with the Yanyuwa Aboriginal community to record knowledge of the sea, examining 'new', 'old', gendered, and generational knowledge associated with sea territories. By ....Seascapes, Sea People, and Indigenous Knowledge: Maritime heritage at the land/sea interface. This project will educate the broader Australian community of the complexities of Indigenous maritime heritage, by producing a clear understanding of the ways Indigenous people define and maintain seascapes. This research involves working with the Yanyuwa Aboriginal community to record knowledge of the sea, examining 'new', 'old', gendered, and generational knowledge associated with sea territories. By widely disseminating the results, we will reveal important details of the complexities of sustaining the biodiversity and cultural makeup of Australian seascapes. Furthermore, this Project will provide vital knowledge for the management of coastal regions in an era of predicated sea level rise.Read moreRead less
Developing Aboriginal Social Capital for participants not spectators in the Australian economy. If a sector of Indigenous Australians can be taught to understand financial management, resource budgeting and financial planning (personal attributes that Western society values, yet often takes for granted); it is anticipated that they will in turn seek to improve their social position and look at wealth creation to reduce their dependence in a welfare culture. These people can be educated and encou ....Developing Aboriginal Social Capital for participants not spectators in the Australian economy. If a sector of Indigenous Australians can be taught to understand financial management, resource budgeting and financial planning (personal attributes that Western society values, yet often takes for granted); it is anticipated that they will in turn seek to improve their social position and look at wealth creation to reduce their dependence in a welfare culture. These people can be educated and encouraged to be active participants within the wider Australian economy, the national and community benefit will be the development of independent citizens and the creation of social capital that is financial knowledge. Read moreRead less
The Kaurareg Archaeological Project, south-Western Torres Strait, Australia. This project will be used to foster a greater awareness of the history of Aboriginal occupation in the Torres Strait islands, as well as furthering our understanding of past and present relationships between groups in Torres Strait, Cape York and Papua New Guinea. The research seeks to understand the southern-most limits of early Papuan influences into the Torres Strait islands and investigate the notion of a distincti ....The Kaurareg Archaeological Project, south-Western Torres Strait, Australia. This project will be used to foster a greater awareness of the history of Aboriginal occupation in the Torres Strait islands, as well as furthering our understanding of past and present relationships between groups in Torres Strait, Cape York and Papua New Guinea. The research seeks to understand the southern-most limits of early Papuan influences into the Torres Strait islands and investigate the notion of a distinctive Aboriginal signature in the archaeological record from the Kaurareg Archipelago (south-Western Torres Strait islands). This project will also record contemporary perspectives from the traditional owners of the Kaurareg Archipelago (the Kaurareg Aboriginal community) to better understand interregional relationships today. Read moreRead less
Food, Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and the Expansion of the Settler Economy. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australian Indigenous-settler history by focusing on the role of food and traditional Aboriginal food knowledge. It will also represent a timely engagement with worldwide debates about the role of Indigenous knowledge in a modern world.
As well as producing scholarly outcomes including books the project will establish and maintain a data-base of this knowledge whi ....Food, Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and the Expansion of the Settler Economy. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australian Indigenous-settler history by focusing on the role of food and traditional Aboriginal food knowledge. It will also represent a timely engagement with worldwide debates about the role of Indigenous knowledge in a modern world.
As well as producing scholarly outcomes including books the project will establish and maintain a data-base of this knowledge which will be accessible to Indigenous communities, scholars, land users and managers. A further benefit will be the repatriation of knowledge and information located in archives and other repositories to descendant Aboriginal communities in culturally sensitive, socially and historically contextualised Community Reports.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal study of the interaction of home and school language in three Aboriginal communities. The importance of language skills cannot be underestimated, and contribute to 'a healthy start to life'. In multilingual Indigenous communities, children must negotiate the complexities of different languages used for different purposes. This project will provide detailed insights into how children manage differences between home and school language, the kinds of problems they encounter when the ....A longitudinal study of the interaction of home and school language in three Aboriginal communities. The importance of language skills cannot be underestimated, and contribute to 'a healthy start to life'. In multilingual Indigenous communities, children must negotiate the complexities of different languages used for different purposes. This project will provide detailed insights into how children manage differences between home and school language, the kinds of problems they encounter when they enter the school system, and how their languages develop over the first four crucial years of school which provide the foundation for the children's future education. Their ability to manage the language of school underpins their ability to lead successful and engaged lives as adults. Read moreRead less