Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, lang ....Cape Keerweer 1606-2006: an ethnographic history of the Wik region, Queensland. In this research with Wik Aboriginal people I investigate how key facets of the peoples' lives have changed since the first Dutch visit 400 years ago. I seek a credible empirical explanation for their descent into crisis, especially post-1978, something with wider implications for the national interest. I examine historical causes through shifts in demography, land tenure, occupations, power relations, violence, language use, and art production. From the intensely local, the past individuals and cultural landscapes of Cape Keerweer, I move outward in space and onward in time tracing gradual Wik engagement in regional, state, national and global relationships 1606-2006.Read moreRead less
Indigenous mental health in remote communities: Applying a contextual model of community research and intervention. This project will make an international advance in understanding indigenous mental health that will be of interest to many groups around the world. The main specifically national benefit will flow from contextual knowledge on how to improve mental health for remote indigenous communities that also allows strengthening of communities and their economic and social enterprises. We w ....Indigenous mental health in remote communities: Applying a contextual model of community research and intervention. This project will make an international advance in understanding indigenous mental health that will be of interest to many groups around the world. The main specifically national benefit will flow from contextual knowledge on how to improve mental health for remote indigenous communities that also allows strengthening of communities and their economic and social enterprises. We will also build capacity in the communities for research skills, documentation skills, and writing skills. The types of contextual information collected will provide recommendations to mental health service providers about how to incorporate local forms of knowledge when dealing with issues of well-being.Read moreRead less
The relationship between speech production and perception in Australian language speakers: implications for speech development and learning in Aboriginal children. Chronic ear infection blights the life of at least 50% of Aboriginal Australians. In a vicious cycle that extends from generation to generation, it leads to hearing loss, educational disadvantage, socio-economic disadvantage and environmental depredation, which once again leads to ear (and many other) infections. This is a unique atte ....The relationship between speech production and perception in Australian language speakers: implications for speech development and learning in Aboriginal children. Chronic ear infection blights the life of at least 50% of Aboriginal Australians. In a vicious cycle that extends from generation to generation, it leads to hearing loss, educational disadvantage, socio-economic disadvantage and environmental depredation, which once again leads to ear (and many other) infections. This is a unique attempt by researchers across academic disciplines to study the role of language in educational disadvantage and whether this disadvantage might be made worse for Aboriginal children by the early use of English at school. We ask whether, on purely acoustic or linguistic grounds, communicating in an Aboriginal language might offer improved educational and health outcomes for Aboriginal children in the early years.Read moreRead less
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
Towards sustainable language revival: a Kaurna case study. This project aims to increase understanding of how a language can be successfully reclaimed through a longitudinal study on the reclamation of the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains. Reviving Indigenous languages is a key factor in helping restore Indigenous health and well-being, and Kaurna has been a model of language revival initiatives in Australia and internationally. But despite many impressive gains, its story is still one of ....Towards sustainable language revival: a Kaurna case study. This project aims to increase understanding of how a language can be successfully reclaimed through a longitudinal study on the reclamation of the Kaurna language of the Adelaide Plains. Reviving Indigenous languages is a key factor in helping restore Indigenous health and well-being, and Kaurna has been a model of language revival initiatives in Australia and internationally. But despite many impressive gains, its story is still one of vulnerability. The current Kaurna movement, with its extensive records, offers a window of opportunity to examine the successes and problems since its last critical appraisal. By examining the means of success and ways of overcoming obstacles and challenges for Kaurna, this project will propose recommendations for Indigenous languages as living, viable languages into the future.Read moreRead less
Before Cook: Contact, Negotiation and the Archaeology of the Tiwi Islands. The narrative of culture contact in Australia is dominated by British colonisation, yet Indigenous Australians in Northern Australia had a much earlier connection with global explorers and traders. We aim to conduct the first systematic maritime and terrestrial archaeological investigations of the Tiwi Islands, alongside the study of material culture, oral history and archival materials associated with early Dutch explore ....Before Cook: Contact, Negotiation and the Archaeology of the Tiwi Islands. The narrative of culture contact in Australia is dominated by British colonisation, yet Indigenous Australians in Northern Australia had a much earlier connection with global explorers and traders. We aim to conduct the first systematic maritime and terrestrial archaeological investigations of the Tiwi Islands, alongside the study of material culture, oral history and archival materials associated with early Dutch explorers, British colonists, and Macassans. This multi-disciplinary approach will broaden our understanding of long-term race relations in Australia, the past presence of foreign visitors to Northern Australia, develop cultural heritage public policy and consolidate Tiwi cultural identity and history into the historical record.Read moreRead less
Negotiating a space in the nation: the case of Ngarrindjeri. This research project aims to investigate a hopeful site for the development of post-apology Indigenous Affairs in the south east of Australia. One such case, is Ngarrindjeri nation and its negotiations with local, State and Federal Government across a complex agenda, including caring for country, community leadership and governance, economic development, a community education strategy, and inter(national) coalition building. The resea ....Negotiating a space in the nation: the case of Ngarrindjeri. This research project aims to investigate a hopeful site for the development of post-apology Indigenous Affairs in the south east of Australia. One such case, is Ngarrindjeri nation and its negotiations with local, State and Federal Government across a complex agenda, including caring for country, community leadership and governance, economic development, a community education strategy, and inter(national) coalition building. The research will contribute to Australian commitments to reconciliation, cultural diversity, intercultural communication and collaboration with Indigenous communities. Importantly, it will also contribute to better management of scarce water resources in the Murray Darling Basin.Read moreRead less
Goolarabooloo Culture of the Western Kimberley. With the prospect of new industries, starting with a major gas plant, the Indigenous population of Broome finds itself under pressure and internally divided. The group to be studied here, Goolarabooloo, is opposed to mining on their Dreaming. Their struggle has had the effect of reviving forms of culture, that take contemporary shape, but are always strongly linked to the traditional culture. With national and international attention focussed on Go ....Goolarabooloo Culture of the Western Kimberley. With the prospect of new industries, starting with a major gas plant, the Indigenous population of Broome finds itself under pressure and internally divided. The group to be studied here, Goolarabooloo, is opposed to mining on their Dreaming. Their struggle has had the effect of reviving forms of culture, that take contemporary shape, but are always strongly linked to the traditional culture. With national and international attention focussed on Goolarabooloo, this study will analyse the transformation of this confederacy of language groups in the context of industrialisation and tourism. The output will be a first in ethnographic documentation of this culture, first recorded by Daisy Bates in 1901.Read moreRead less
Warratyi: Cultural Innovation in the Indigenous Settlement of Australia. This project aims to determine the role of cultural innovation in the Indigenous settlement of Australia's arid zone 50,000 years ago. Using innovative methods, it will produce new data on key technologies, symbolic behaviours and human interactions with animals and environment to identify the cultural innovations needed to overcome the challenges of Australia's deserts. Expected outcomes include new understandings of the s ....Warratyi: Cultural Innovation in the Indigenous Settlement of Australia. This project aims to determine the role of cultural innovation in the Indigenous settlement of Australia's arid zone 50,000 years ago. Using innovative methods, it will produce new data on key technologies, symbolic behaviours and human interactions with animals and environment to identify the cultural innovations needed to overcome the challenges of Australia's deserts. Expected outcomes include new understandings of the settlement of the arid zone to inform global debates relating to the dispersal, settlement and lifestyles of early humans in marginal environments. Expected benefits include new information for cultural tourism and education and to support South Australia’s World Heritage nomination for the Flinders Ranges.Read moreRead less
Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government. This project aims to produce new knowledge about Indigenous nation building (INB) processes. Based on research that self-governance increases Indigenous socioeconomic and community capacity, this project will collaborate with two Aboriginal communities to investigate factors that impact the transition from 'identifying' to 'organising' as political collectives to enable self-governance. Such knowledge has the potential to directly co ....Prerequisite conditions for Indigenous nation self-government. This project aims to produce new knowledge about Indigenous nation building (INB) processes. Based on research that self-governance increases Indigenous socioeconomic and community capacity, this project will collaborate with two Aboriginal communities to investigate factors that impact the transition from 'identifying' to 'organising' as political collectives to enable self-governance. Such knowledge has the potential to directly contribute to increased wellbeing for Indigenous communities as they define it. It aims to contribute to Australian and international Indigenous governance, political science and Indigenous methodologies literatures. The project could significantly benefit Indigenous peoples, the broader Australian community, Australian governments, and Australian and international INB researchers.Read moreRead less