Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: a fifty year retrospective exploring the history of black and white Australian activism, 1957-1972. The year 1957 marks the beginning of a fifteen year period in which black and white Australians collaborated for Indigenous rights. Although this work began with a concentration on civil rights, by the end of the period a new set of rights was being sought based on the unique circumstances of Indigenous Australians. This project will explore the struggle for ci ....Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: a fifty year retrospective exploring the history of black and white Australian activism, 1957-1972. The year 1957 marks the beginning of a fifteen year period in which black and white Australians collaborated for Indigenous rights. Although this work began with a concentration on civil rights, by the end of the period a new set of rights was being sought based on the unique circumstances of Indigenous Australians. This project will explore the struggle for civil rights and the more radical proposition that other rights flowed to Indigenous Australians due to their original occupancy and dispossession.The proposed end products are a fully developed exhibition brief and catalogue essay, an on-line exhibition with supporting educational resource material and scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Oral Tradition, Memory and Social Change: Indigenous Participation in the Curation and Use of Museum Collections. This project addresses concerns about how museums meet their charter in a diverse society. It will engage museums in a process of brokering and negotiation with indigenous Australians in relation to specific museum collections. There is little formal recognition of how such processes occur within museums and contribute to the creation of shared meanings about ourselves as a nation. I ....Oral Tradition, Memory and Social Change: Indigenous Participation in the Curation and Use of Museum Collections. This project addresses concerns about how museums meet their charter in a diverse society. It will engage museums in a process of brokering and negotiation with indigenous Australians in relation to specific museum collections. There is little formal recognition of how such processes occur within museums and contribute to the creation of shared meanings about ourselves as a nation. It is part of the role of museums as places of learning to engage and fascinate, and this project brings together traditional knowledge and expertise in three fields of study to pass on our national heritage to future generations. Read moreRead less
Indigenous Entrepreneurship in Victoria, Australia: Reconciling Mainstream Business Practice and Indigenous Community Values. Indigenous entrepreneurship is a mechanism for addressing 'reconciliation' one the Nation's major issues. This study recognises the interrelations between Indigenous Australians as individuals and members of wider community groups and organisations and addresses key strategic documents including 'A Fairer Victoria' which is concerned about the disadvantaged in a developed ....Indigenous Entrepreneurship in Victoria, Australia: Reconciling Mainstream Business Practice and Indigenous Community Values. Indigenous entrepreneurship is a mechanism for addressing 'reconciliation' one the Nation's major issues. This study recognises the interrelations between Indigenous Australians as individuals and members of wider community groups and organisations and addresses key strategic documents including 'A Fairer Victoria' which is concerned about the disadvantaged in a developed society. Identifying Indigenous cultural values and the exigencies and pressures (including mainstream cultural pressure) impacting on Indigenous entrepreneurs assists with removing those impediments and will strengthen key strategic Indigenous Policies and programs in the interests of national economic prosperity and national reconciliation.Read moreRead less
Indigenous Weather: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander's perspectives on weather. This project aims to collect, synthesise and interpret Indigenous Australian knowledge on weather patterns, seasonal variations, environmental and climatic change. The development of an Indigenous weather knowledge data-base will be incorporated into the Bureau of Meteorology's external web page and will provide much needed infomation on Indigenous people's understanding of their enviroment.
Reconstructing the Spencer and Gillen Collection: Museums, Indigenous Perspectives and the Production of Cultural Knowledge. Spencer and Gillen's research placed Australia at the heart of world discourse in anthropology at the beginning of the twentieth century and they influenced the paradigm changes that resulted in the development of the modern discipline. Digital technology now enables the material record of their research to be recreated as a whole revealing the richness of Aboriginal socie ....Reconstructing the Spencer and Gillen Collection: Museums, Indigenous Perspectives and the Production of Cultural Knowledge. Spencer and Gillen's research placed Australia at the heart of world discourse in anthropology at the beginning of the twentieth century and they influenced the paradigm changes that resulted in the development of the modern discipline. Digital technology now enables the material record of their research to be recreated as a whole revealing the richness of Aboriginal society in central Australia at the turn of the twentieth century and uncovering a crucial period in the history of anthropology. The research project will advance understanding of Australia's role in the history of anthropology and related disciplines in addition to creating a cultural resource of great value not least for the Indigenous communities themselves.Read moreRead less
Anthropological and Aboriginal perspectives on the Donald Thomson Collection: material culture, collecting and identity. This partnership offers a unique opportunity to combine anthropological research, museum practice and Indigenous community participation to explore the Donald Thomson Arnhem Land Ethnographic Collection. This is the most comprehensive collection of material culture made from any group in Australia while people were still living independently in the bush. This Collection is no ....Anthropological and Aboriginal perspectives on the Donald Thomson Collection: material culture, collecting and identity. This partnership offers a unique opportunity to combine anthropological research, museum practice and Indigenous community participation to explore the Donald Thomson Arnhem Land Ethnographic Collection. This is the most comprehensive collection of material culture made from any group in Australia while people were still living independently in the bush. This Collection is now of major cultural significance for non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians and can yield important insights into past socio-cultural life, Yolngu ethnotechnological skills and knowledge and the nature of collecting. The project will benefit many sectors including the museum-going public and the Yolngu.Read moreRead less
Black Gold: a history of Aboriginal people and gold mining in Victoria, 1850-1900. The social and economic historiography of gold in Victoria has excluded a whole quadrant from its landscape. The Aboriginal side of the gold fields story in Victoria has yet to be told. This project will be the first systematic study of the history of Aboriginal people and gold mining in Victoria. It will show that this history is a rich and varied narrative that includes such themes as the environmental degra ....Black Gold: a history of Aboriginal people and gold mining in Victoria, 1850-1900. The social and economic historiography of gold in Victoria has excluded a whole quadrant from its landscape. The Aboriginal side of the gold fields story in Victoria has yet to be told. This project will be the first systematic study of the history of Aboriginal people and gold mining in Victoria. It will show that this history is a rich and varied narrative that includes such themes as the environmental degradation and social disruption brought by mining; employment, trade and commerce opportunities it offered Aboriginal people; Aboriginal expertise and knowledge in the discovery of gold; relationships with miners; and the presence of the Native Police Corps on the Goldfields.Read moreRead less