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Protection & Punishment: colonial networks & the legal reform of indigenous people, Australia 1837-1911. This project will analyse how objectives to protect Indigenous people under the law after the 1830s became entwined in Australian colonial governance with objectives to transform them into legal subjects through policing and punishment. It will do so by examining the everyday work of Protectors of Aborigines, magistrates and mounted police as a network of colonial officials whose roles tested ....Protection & Punishment: colonial networks & the legal reform of indigenous people, Australia 1837-1911. This project will analyse how objectives to protect Indigenous people under the law after the 1830s became entwined in Australian colonial governance with objectives to transform them into legal subjects through policing and punishment. It will do so by examining the everyday work of Protectors of Aborigines, magistrates and mounted police as a network of colonial officials whose roles tested the boundaries of law in frontier settings where colonial relationships were still in the making. In exploring tensions between goals of humanitarian reform and demands of colonial development, it generates new insight into the intents and disputes that marked the practical pursuit of jurisdiction over Indigenous people.Read moreRead less
The Burden of Freedom? Aboriginal Exemption Policies in Australia. This project aims to be the first major study of the clauses in Aboriginal Protection Acts that allowed Aborigines to be released from control by the government; these are also known as exemption policies. By examining rich and underutilised government archives, it aims to provide a nuanced account of how Aboriginal people negotiated the pressures and possibilities of assimilation from 1897 to 1967. At the same time, it aims to r ....The Burden of Freedom? Aboriginal Exemption Policies in Australia. This project aims to be the first major study of the clauses in Aboriginal Protection Acts that allowed Aborigines to be released from control by the government; these are also known as exemption policies. By examining rich and underutilised government archives, it aims to provide a nuanced account of how Aboriginal people negotiated the pressures and possibilities of assimilation from 1897 to 1967. At the same time, it aims to reveal how non-Aboriginal Australians imagined Aborigines becoming equal citizens. More generally, this study is expected to advance scholarly knowledge of the intricate workings and development of assimilation policy and enable a new reckoning of the legacy and practice of assimilation.Read moreRead less
Indigenous mobilities to and through Australia: agency and sovereignties. Indigenous peoples have always undertaken extensive travel and movement, but colonisation brought new reasons for travel and new Indigenous peoples from New Zealand and the Pacific to Australia. Historians have not yet fully grappled with these histories. These migrations and journeys always traversed Indigenous geographies. Bringing Indigenous perspectives and ethical methodologies to an analysis of mobilities, we aim to ....Indigenous mobilities to and through Australia: agency and sovereignties. Indigenous peoples have always undertaken extensive travel and movement, but colonisation brought new reasons for travel and new Indigenous peoples from New Zealand and the Pacific to Australia. Historians have not yet fully grappled with these histories. These migrations and journeys always traversed Indigenous geographies. Bringing Indigenous perspectives and ethical methodologies to an analysis of mobilities, we aim to explore hidden histories of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Maori and Pacific Islander travel to and across Australia, and engage with Indigenous communities to understand meanings associated with travel and current implications for sovereignties and identities. Read moreRead less
Changing landscapes, changing people: Australia's southern mallee lands, 1830-2012. This project reveals how Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, from the 1830s to the present, have created and responded to changes in nature in the mallee regions of southern Australia. Findings will provide knowledge for both rural Australia and policy makers to understand and respond to environmental change.
Rediscovering religious diversity 1852 – today. Rediscovering religious diversity 1852 – today. This project aims to re-discover, interpret and share knowledge about the role and value of faith during the gold rush, and on the goldfields until today. Encouraging Australians to respect faith adherence has never been more urgent, and recent events in Bendigo illustrate the social cost of religious intolerance. Researching Bendigo’s faith history, part of gold-mining’s cultural ‘melting pot’ experi ....Rediscovering religious diversity 1852 – today. Rediscovering religious diversity 1852 – today. This project aims to re-discover, interpret and share knowledge about the role and value of faith during the gold rush, and on the goldfields until today. Encouraging Australians to respect faith adherence has never been more urgent, and recent events in Bendigo illustrate the social cost of religious intolerance. Researching Bendigo’s faith history, part of gold-mining’s cultural ‘melting pot’ experience, could help communities to understand diversity and difference. A new multi-faith interpretive centre will communicate results to contemporary audiences in relevant ways. Connecting people to their own history is expected to optimise Bendigo’s heritage assets, benefit tourism and promote cohesion in Australia’s increasingly diverse communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$435,991.00
Summary
Self-determination for Indigenous Australia: histories, visions and voice. This project aims to provide a historical exploration of the experiences of self-determination in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Working in partnership with Indigenous collaborators, it expects to generate new knowledge of the challenges and opportunities which arose from the process of self-determination. Expected outcomes include a new history of the Northern Territory as shaped by self-determination, ....Self-determination for Indigenous Australia: histories, visions and voice. This project aims to provide a historical exploration of the experiences of self-determination in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Working in partnership with Indigenous collaborators, it expects to generate new knowledge of the challenges and opportunities which arose from the process of self-determination. Expected outcomes include a new history of the Northern Territory as shaped by self-determination, together with innovative methods for community-based collaborative research which give voice to historical Indigenous experiences. This should provide significant benefits for policymakers engaging with Indigenous communities and generate deeper cultural understanding of an important era in Australia’s Indigenous history.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200406
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$290,318.00
Summary
Indigenous Australia: A History of Documents 1770-2000. This project aims to address the ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are mostly known to others through the eyes of non-Indigenous observers rather than actual human interactions. This project applies new methodologies to written historical sources that are based on reflexive approaches, and the privileging of Aboriginal well being and Indigenous perspectives. By using these innovative decolonising methods to produce a four ....Indigenous Australia: A History of Documents 1770-2000. This project aims to address the ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are mostly known to others through the eyes of non-Indigenous observers rather than actual human interactions. This project applies new methodologies to written historical sources that are based on reflexive approaches, and the privileging of Aboriginal well being and Indigenous perspectives. By using these innovative decolonising methods to produce a four-volume documentary history of Indigenous Australia, this project aims to change the way documentary collections have shaped our past, thereby creating innovative insights into Australia’s history and new understandings of Indigenous peoples shaped partly by themselves. Read moreRead less
The two lakes project: a research history of Lakes Mungo and Gregory. This project investigates the history of research relations between scientists and Traditional Owners at Lakes Mungo and Gregory. Connecting recent histories of agency and reconciliation with deep time, it will produce a publicly accessible narrative that increases national understanding of significant stories in the peopling of our continent.
Don Dunstan and political and social reform in Australia. Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia in 1967-68 and 1970-79, was an extraordinarily influential politician whose sweeping reforms led the way nationally and internationally in areas ranging from constitutional reform, Aboriginal land rights, equal opportunities, decriminalisation of homosexuality and civil liberties to urban planning, the arts and food culture. This project will produce the first full-length, comprehensive biography of ....Don Dunstan and political and social reform in Australia. Don Dunstan, Premier of South Australia in 1967-68 and 1970-79, was an extraordinarily influential politician whose sweeping reforms led the way nationally and internationally in areas ranging from constitutional reform, Aboriginal land rights, equal opportunities, decriminalisation of homosexuality and civil liberties to urban planning, the arts and food culture. This project will produce the first full-length, comprehensive biography of Dunstan. It will also use Dunstan’s political and cultural transformation of South Australia to examine the wider dynamics of reform in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, to understand how and why such change occurred at both state and national levels.Read moreRead less