Anthropology of Indigenous Australia
Class code ANTH-UA 9037
Instructor Details Petronella Vaarzon-Morel [email protected] 0428633216 (mobile) Office Hour: Tuesday 5-6pm
Class Details Anthropology of Indigenous Australia
Tuesdays, 2-5pm September 3 to December 10 Room 3.04 NYU Sydney Academic Centre Science House: 157 Gloucester Street, The Rocks
Prerequisites None
Class Description This course offers an introduction to some of the classical and current issues in the anthropology of Indigenous Australia. The role of anthropology in the representation and governance of Indigenous life is itself an important subject for anthropological inquiry, considering that Indigenous people of Australia have long been the objects of interest and imagination by outsiders for their cultural formulations of kinship, ritual, art, gender, and politics. These representations—in feature films about them (such as Rabbit-Proof Fence and Australia), New Age Literature (such as Mutant Message Down Under), or museum exhibitions (such as in the Museum of Sydney or the Australian Museum)—are now also in dialogue with Indigenous forms of cultural production, in genres as diverse as film, television, drama, dance, and archiving. The course will explore how Aboriginal people have struggled to reproduce themselves and their traditions on their own terms, asserting their right to forms of cultural autonomy and self-determination. Through the examination of ethnographic texts, historical accounts, films, live performances, and an autobiography, we will consider the ways in which Aboriginalities are being challenged and constructed in contemporary Australia.
The course will consist of lectures interspersed with discussions, student presentations, and films/other media; we may also have guest presenters. There will be two required fieldtrips and one required excursion; these are considered co-curricular, and are essential to your learning over the course of the semester.
Desired As a result of successfully completing this course, students will be able to: Outcomes Demonstrate understanding of the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and ways of being in their historical and contemporary contexts; Critically reflect upon, and engage in, the changing nature of ethnographic practice and the problems of attempting to represent the lives of Indigenous Australians; Recognize and interpret many of the different symbolic forms of self-representation Indigenous Australians use when communicating both intra-culturally and cross-culturally; More clearly articulate their own social, cultural, personal, and political dispositions as
1 | P a g e
they reflect on their own responses to encounters with Indigenous Australia(ns); and Draw on this foundational knowledge to further develop the skills needed to sensitively engage cross-culturally with Indigenous Australians (and non-Indigenous Australians).
Assessment Attendance, discussion, participation in class activities: 15% Components Short paper (4-5 pages) Due 2pm Tues Oct 1, Session 5: 20% In-class presentation (15 minutes) and follow-up paper (4-5 pages): 30% Final essay (8-10 pages): Due 2pm Tues Dec 10, Session 14: 35%
Attendance, discussion, participation in class activities: 25% Students are expected to do the assigned readings, attend lectures, and participate actively in class discussion.
Field Trips: Two fieldtrips are also required content for this class:
The Deadly Awards, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, 7.30pm September 10 in Week 2. The Sydney Opera House will come alive with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement, pride, excellence and all the excitement of a major awards night. Join Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia’s top musicians, actors, sports people and community heroes in an evening that showcases achievement and shines the light on the year that was.
Aboriginal Heritage Tour, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney in Session 8 (October 29). This week’s seminar will start at the Academic Centre at The Rocks from 2.00 to 3.00 pm. We will then continue the seminar at the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Two additional optional excursions will be offered to plays at the Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney:
The first play is entitled “The Cake Man,” and tickets will be purchased on behalf of those who sign up for Tuesday November 19 (see details below, in Session 11).
The second play is Coranderrk at the Belvoir Street Theatre on Saturday December 7 (see details below, in Session 13). Sign up is also required to pre-purchase tickets.
You are strongly encouraged to attend at least one of these plays, both of which relate to course content. Tickets will be arranged by sign up with the Student Services Program Manager during the first week of classes.
You may choose to base your final essay on the “The Cake Man” (see further details in relevant sessions below). Coranderrk is very close to the due date for final assignments, however if you can attend the performance it will enrich your understanding of many issues raised in this class including the effects of State policies on Aboriginal people and their struggle for self-determination and the right to reproduce and represent themselves on their own terms.
Short paper (4-5 pages): 20% Due at the beginning of class, Session 5, Tuesday October 1. Topic to be advised in session 1 when assessment criteria also will be distributed.
15-minute in-class presentation and follow up paper (4-5 pages): 30% You will present on one selected reading for the week (in addition to the two required readings). You will be asked to summarize authors’ arguments, present major themes, relate to the required readings and raise questions for further discussion. PowerPoint support is welcome but not required. A sign-up sheet will be circulated on the first day of class. A 4-5 page paper write-up on your work is due the week following your presentation. Together, the presentation and the paper will be worth 30% of your final grade.
2 | P a g e
Final essay (8-10 pages) written essay: 35% Due at the beginning of class, Session 14, Tuesday December 10. A list of questions and assessment criteria will be distributed in Session 8; you may also select your own topic in advance with approval from the Instructor. Approval must be gained in- person (email is not sufficient).
Written work must include appropriate citations and references (reference lists are not included in the required number of pages); please follow the American Anthropological Association Style Guide, available on the NYU Classes site for our course.
Failure to submit or fulfill any required course component will result in failure of the class.
NYU Sydney has a strict policy about course attendance and late submission of work. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the policies on attendance and late submission of work in the NYU Sydney Student Handbook.
Assessment Grade A: Excellent performance showing a thorough knowledge and understanding of the topics of Expectations the course; all work includes clear, logical explanations, insight, and original thought and reasoning. Creative work is of a highly sophisticated standard.
Grade B: Good performance with general knowledge and understanding of the topics; all work includes general analysis and coherent explanations showing some independent reasoning, reading and research. Creative work is of a superior standard.
Grade C: Satisfactory performance with some broad explanation and reasoning; the work will typically demonstrate an understanding of the course on a basic level. Creative work is of an acceptable standard.
Grade D: Passable performance showing a general and superficial understanding of the course’s topics; work lacks satisfactory insight, analysis or reasoned explanations. Creative work is of a basic standard.
Grade F: Unsatisfactory performance in all assessed criteria. Creative work is weak, unfinished or unsubmitted.
Plagiarism Policy The academic standards of New York University apply to all coursework at NYU Sydney. NYU Sydney policies are in accordance with New York University’s plagiarism policy. The presentation of another person’s words, ideas, judgment, images or data as though they were your own, whether intentionally or unintentionally, constitutes an act of plagiarism.
Any course work must to be submitted as a hard copy AND in electronic form. All students must submit an electronic copy of each piece of written work to www.turnitin.com. Instructions will be provided to you in class.
Penalties for confirmed cases of plagiarism are severe and are dealt with by the Director, NYU Sydney, not your instructor. Your home school will be notified and you will be dealt with according to the standards of that school. The codes of conduct and academic standards for NYU’s various schools and colleges are outlined in the respective school’s academic resources.
Required Text(s)
Fred Myers (1991) [1986], Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self, University of California Press. Sally Morgan (1988), My Place, Freemantle Press.
3 | P a g e
Supplemental Texts(s)
Altman, Jon and Melinda Hinkson (eds.) (2010), Culture Crisis: Anthropology and Politics in Aboriginal Australia. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. Attwood, Bain (2003), Rights for Aborigines. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Austin-Broos, Diane (2011), A Different Inequality: The Politics of Debate about Remote Aboriginal Australia. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Behrendt, Larissa (2010), Indigenous Australia for Dummies. Stafford, Queensland: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. Bell, Diane (2001) [1983], Daughters of the Dreaming. North Melbourne, Vic.: Spinifex Press. Cowlishaw, Gillian (2009), The City’s Outback. Sydney: UNSW Press. Goodall, Heather and Cadzow, Alison (2009), Rivers and Resilience: Aboriginal People on Sydney’s Georges River. Sydney: UNSW Press. Haebich, Anna (2001), Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800-2000. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. Hinkson, Melinda and Harris, Alana (2010), Aboriginal Sydney: a guide to important places of the past and present. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2nd edition. Michaels, Eric (1994), Bad Aboriginal Art: Tradition, Media and Technological Horizons. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Moss, Rod (2010), The Hard Light of Day: An artist’s story of friendships in Arrernte country. St.Lucia: University of Queensland Press. Reynolds, Henry (1986), The Other Side of the Frontier. Sydney: NewSouth Books. Reynolds, Henry (2013), Forgotten War. Sydney: NewSouth Books. Skyring, Fiona (2011), Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia. Crawley: University of Western Australia Press. Sutton, Peter (2003), Native Title in Australia: An Ethnographic Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sutton, Peter (2009), The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the End of the Liberal Consensus. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. Wallace, Kathleen Kemarre (with Judy Lovell) (2009), Listen Deeply, Let these stories in. Alice Springs: IAD Press.
Session 1 Introduction: Indigenous People, Settler Society, You, Us and Sydney
September 3
Required Reading: Heather Goodall and Alison Cadzow (2009), Rivers and Resilience: Aboriginal People on Sydney’s Georges River (UNSW Press), Chapter 1: Introduction. Maria Nugent (2008) “The encounter between Captain Cook and Indigenous people at Botany Bay in 1770 reconsidered,” in Strangers on the Shore: Early coastal contacts in Australia (National Museum of Australia), 198-207.
In-Class Media: First Australians episode 1: “They Have Come to Stay.” (dir. Rachel Perkins, 60 mins, 2008).
Session 2 Contact: The Power of Representation and the Telling of Stories
September 10
Required Reading:
4 | P a g e
Deborah Bird Rose (2001), “The Saga of Captain Cook: Remembrance and Morality,” in Bain Attwood and Fiona Magowan (eds.), Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand (Allen & Unwin), 61-79. Ian Anderson (2003), “Introduction: The Aboriginal Critique of Colonial Knowing,” in Michele Grossman (ed.), Blacklines: Contemporary Critical Writing by Indigenous Australians (Melbourne University Publishing), 17-24.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: W.E.H. Stanner (1959), “Durmugam: A Nangiomeri,” in Joseph B. Casagrande (ed.), In The Company of Man: Twenty Portraits by Anthropologists (Harper & Brothers Publishers), 63-100.
Recommended: Bronislaw Malinowski (1978) [1922], Argonauts of the Western Pacific (Routledge), Introduction, Mick Dodson (2003), “The End in the Beginning: Re(de)finding Aboriginality,” in Michele Grossman, (ed.), Blacklines: Contemporary Critical Writing by Indigenous Australians (Melbourne University Publishing), 25-42.
In-Class Media: Babakieuria (dir. Don Featherstone, 26 mins, 1987).
Session 3 Classical Aboriginal Society: Cosmology, People, and Place
September 17
Required Reading: Fred Myers (1991), Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place, and Politics Among Western Desert Aborigines (University of California Press), Chapters 1 & 2. W.E.H. Stanner 2011 [1953], “The Dreaming,” in The Dreaming and Other Essays (Black Inc. Imprint).
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Tony Swain and Gary Trompf (1995), “Tradition,” The Religions of Oceania (Routledge), 223-233.
Recommended Peter Sutton (2003), “Native Title in Australia: An Ethnographic Perspective (Cambridge University Press), 54-84.
In-Class Media: Waiting for Harry (dir. Kim McKenzie, 55 min, 1980).
Session 4 Classical Aboriginal Society: Land, Identity, Gender
September 24
Required Reading: Fred Myers (1991), Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place, and Politics Among Western Desert Aborigines (University of California Press), chapters 3-5. Diane Bell (2001), Daughters of the Dreaming (Spinifex Press), Chapter 3.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 1: Jane Jacobs (1989), “‘Women Talking Up Big:’ Aboriginal Women as Cultural Custodians,” in Peggy Brock (ed.), Women, Rites, and Sites: Aboriginal Women’s Cultural Knowledge (Allen & Unwin), 76- 98.
5 | P a g e
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 2: Dianne Bell (1981), “Women’s Business is Hard Work,” Signs 7, 314-337.
Recommended Jane Jacobs (1988), “The Construction of Identity,” in Jeremy Beckett (ed.), Past and Present: The Construction of Aboriginality (Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies), 31-44.
In-Class Media: Excerpts from: A Shifting Dreaming (dir. Bob Plasto, 95 mins. 1982; Imago Holdings, held by AIATSIS Audiovisual Archives.)
Session 5 History and Settlement / Invasion: Aboriginal Perspectives
October 1
Required R eading: Henry Reynolds (1981), The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia (UNSW Press), Chapter 2. Petronella Vaarzon-Morel (ed.), (1993) Warlpiri Women’s Voices: Our Lives, Our History (IAD Press), 33-54.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Henry Reynolds (2013), Forgotten War (NewSouth Books), Chapter 2.
Recommended Reading: Jeremy Beckett (1993), “Walter Newton’s History of the World—or Australia,” American Ethnologist 20(4): 675-695. Peter Sutton, (2008) “Stories about Feeling: Dutch-Australian contact in Cape York Peninsula, 1606- 1756” in P. Veth, P. Sutton, P. and M. Neale, Strangers on the Shore: early coastal contacts in Australia (National Museum of Australia), 35-59.
In-Class Media: The Coniston Massacre (dir. Francis Jupurrurla Kelly, David Batty, 57 mins, 2012).
Assignment: Short Paper (20%) due this week.
Fall Break: October 7-11 (including October long weekend)
Session 6 History: State Policies and Aboriginal Rights
October 15
Required Reading: Bain Attwood (2003), Rights for Aborigines (Allen & Unwin), 3-30. Diane Barwick (1974), “And the Lubras are Ladies Now,” in Fay Gale (ed.), Women’s Role in Aboriginal Society (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies), 51-63.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Tim Rowse (1987), “Assimilation and After,” in Ann Curthoys, A W Martin, Tim Rowse (eds.), Australians from 1939 (Syme & Weldon), 133-149.
6 | P a g e
Recommended Reading: Horner and Langton, (1987) “The Day of Mourning” in B. Gammage and P. Spearritt (eds.), Australians 1938 (Syme and Weldon), 29-35. Rosewarne, C., Vaarzon-Morel, P., Bell, S., Carter, E., & M. Liddle (2007), “The historical context of developing an Aboriginal community-controlled health service: a social history of the first ten years of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress,” Health and History Special Issue: Aboriginal Health and History, 9 (2):114-143.
In-Class Media: Freedom Ride (dirs. Rachel Perkins and Ned Lander, 55 mins, 1993)
Session 7 History: Land Rights and Self-Determination
October 22
Required Reading: Nicholas Peterson (1981), “Introduction” in N. Peterson (ed.), Aboriginal land rights a handbook, (Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies), 1-11. Noel Loos (1997), “Edward Koiki Mabo: The Journey to Native Title,” Journal of Australian Studies 21(54): 108-119.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Howard Morphy (1983), “’Now You Understand’: An Analysis of the Ways Yolngu Have Used Sacred Knowledge to Maintain their Autonomy,” in N. Peterson & M. Langton, eds., Aborigines, Land and Land Rights, 110-133.
In-Class Media: Excerpt from The Killing Times (dir. Bob Plasto, duration of film 49 mins, original videocassette (VHS) 49 min., Distributed by Video Education Australasia.)
Guest speaker: To be confirmed.
Recommended reading: Bain Attwood (2003), Rights for Aborigines (Allen & Unwin). Remainder.
Session 8 Indigenous relations to land: environmental knowledge, practices and issues.
October 29 Required Reading: Jessica K. Weir (2009), Murray River Country (Aboriginal Studies Press), 1-25 (i.e. Chapter 1, “Narratives and their relations”). Karissa Preuss and Madeline Dixon (2012) “Combining Indigenous and non-Indigenous ecological knowledge in the Southern Tanami IPA,” Ecological Management and Restoration, 13, (1): 2-15.
Recommended Reading: Ian Keen (2004), “Environments and Resources,” in Ian Keen (ed.), Aboriginal Economy and Society: Australia at the Threshold of Colonisation, (Oxford University Press), 21-82. Jon Altman and Sean Kerins (eds.) (2012), People on country: Vital Landscapes/Indigenous Futures. (The Federation Press). Petronella Vaarzon-Morel and Kasia Gabrys (2009), “Fire on the horizon: contemporary Aboriginal burning issues in the Tanami Desert, central Australia,” GeoJournal (Special edition: Desert Knowledge), 74, (5), 465-476. (Online, DOI 10.1007/s10708-008-9235-8).
7 | P a g e
Class will take place at NYU Sydney Academic Centre from 1 to 2.00 pm today, followed by a compulsory excursion.
Required field trip/excursion: Aboriginal Heritage Tour, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney (duration including travel 2 hrs). Departure at 3.00 pm from NYU Sydney Academic Centre, The Rocks. This excursion is in lieu of normal class time from 3.00 to 5.00 pm. During the excursion an Aboriginal Education Officer will introduce us to Indigenous use of plants and related cultural knowledge and practices at the Royal Botanic Gardens. (Further details supplied in Session 7.)
Session 9 Indigenous Media, Cultural Activism
Monday November 4 12.30-2pm NYU Sydney Auditorium
Guest lecture to be given by Dr Lisa Stefanoff.
Students are required to attend. (This means that the session on Tuesday will be for 1.5 hours, starting at 2pm as usual).
November 5
Required Reading: Eric Michaels (1987), “For a Cultural Future: Francis Jupurrula Kelly Makes TV at Yuendumu,” in Eric Michaels, Bad Aboriginal Art (University of Minnesota Press), 99-124. Faye Ginsburg (1991), “Indigenous Media: Faustian Contract or Global Village,” Cultural Anthropology 6: 92-112.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Faye Ginsburg (2005), “Blak Screens and Cultural Citizenship,” Visual Anthropology Review, 21: 80-97.
Recommended: Marcia Langton (1994), “Well I Heard it on the Radio and Saw it on the Television,” (Australian Film Commission). Fred Myers (1989), “Truth, Beauty and Acrylic Painting,” Visual Anthropology.
Session 10 Identity: Who/What is Aboriginal?
November 12
Required Reading: Sally Morgan (1987), My Place (Fremantle Arts Centre Press), parts I & II (first half). Jeremy Beckett (1988), “The Past in the Present, the Present in the Past” in J. Beckett (ed.), Past and Present: The Construction of Aboriginality (Aboriginal Studies Press), 191-217.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Michele Grossman (1988), “Out of the salon and into the streets: contextualising Australian indigenous women's writing,” Women's Writing, 5:2, 169-192.
Recommended Reading: Philip Jones (1991), “Namatjira: Traveler in Two Worlds,” in J. Hardy, et al., The Heritage of Namatjira, 97-136. (Useful website http://www.artistsfootsteps.com/html/Artists_Namatjira.htm) Ian Anderson (2003), “Black bit, white bit” in Blacklines (Melbourne University Press), 43-51.
8 | P a g e
Gillian Cowlishaw (2009), The City’s Outback (UNSW Press), chapter 6 (“Authenticity”).
Tuesday November 19. Field trip, optional attendance: Belvoir St. Theatre to see The Cake Man, 7pm. 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills. Meet inside (down stairs) at Box Office at 6.30 pm. (DATE TBC)
Session 11 Whose History? – Identity, Aboriginality, and The Stolen Generations
November 19
Required Reading: Sally Morgan (1987), My Place (Fremantle Arts Centre Press), parts III, IV, & IV. Rudd, Kevin (2008) Apology to the Stolen Generations - Speech to federal parliament.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Myrna Tonkinson (1990), “Is it in the blood? Australian Aboriginal identity” in Jocelyn Linnekin and Lin Poyer (eds.), Cultural Identity and Ethnicity in the Pacific (University of Hawaii Press), 191-218.
Recommended Reading: Bain Attwood (2001) “‘Learning about the Truth’: The stolen generations narrative,” in Bain Attwood and Fiona Magowan (eds.), Telling Stories: Indigenous History and Memory in Australia and New Zealand (Allen & Unwin/Bridget Williams Books), 183-212.
In Class Media: Stolen Generations (dir. Darlene Johnson, 52 min, 2000)
Session 12 How to conceptualise and / or represent contemporary Aboriginal life
November 26
Required reading: Fred Myers (1991), Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place, and Politics Among Western Desert Aborigines (University of California Press), Chapters 6-7. Peter Sutton (2009), The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the End of the Liberal Consensus (Melbourne University Publishing), Introduction.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 1: Gillian Cowlishaw (2003) “Disappointing Indigenous people: violence and the refusal of help,” Public Culture 15(1):103-125.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 2: Barry Morris (1988), “Dhan-gadi resistance to assimilation,” in Ian Keen (ed.) Being black: Aboriginal cultures in settled Australia, 33-63.
Recommended: Elizabeth Povinelli (2002), The Cunning of Recognition: Indigenous Alterities and the Making of Australian Multiculturalism (Duke University Press), 1-34 (Introduction). Kevin Keeffe (1988), “Aboriginality: Resistance and Persistence,” Australian Aboriginal Studies 1: 67- 81.
Session 13 Indigenous Futures: Indigenizing Media, Archives, Representation
December 3
9 | P a g e
Required Reading: Faye Ginsburg and Fred Myers (2005), “A History of Aboriginal Futures,” Critique of Anthropology 26(1): 27-45. Sabra Thorner (2010), “Imagining an Indigital Interface: Ara Irititja Indigenizes the Technologies of Knowledge Management,” Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals 6(3): 125- 146.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 1: Kimberly Christen (2012), “Balancing Act: The Creation and Circulation of Indigenous Knowledge and Culture Inside and Outside the Legal Frame,” in Sean A. Pager and Adam Candeub (eds.), Transnational Culture in the Internet Age (Edward Elgar Publishing), 316-344.
Selected Reading for Class Presentation: Person 2: Michael Christie (2005), Words, Ontologies and Aboriginal Databases. Media International Australia 116: 52-63.
In-Class Media: Demonstration of Ara Irititja Digital Archive OR Guest lecturer.
Saturday December 7, Field trip, attendance optional: Belvoir St. Theatre to see the play Coranderrk. 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills. Meet inside (down stairs) at Box Office at 6.00 pm (DATE TBC)
Session 14 Course Summary and Review
December 10
Assignment: Final Essay (35%) due this week.
Your Instructor
Petronella Vaarzon-Morel (M.A., Indiana University) is a social/cultural anthropologist whose interests include Indigenous relations to the land, personhood, identity and human-animal relations. Over many years she has conducted ethnographic research with Indigenous groups in central and northern Australia for Aboriginal land and Native Title claims, and for a range of other issues in such areas as environment management, the ‘stolen generation’, health and housing.
In collaboration with Warlpiri she co-authored the book Warlpiri Women’s Voices. Her academic publications include articles and chapters in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, and she has presented papers at national and international conferences. In 2012 she was the recipient of an Anthropology of Native Title Services (ANTS) Research Fellowship, at the University of Adelaide, and in 2013 a Research Writing Placement at the Centre for Native Title Anthropology, Australian National University. Her pedagogic background includes a period teaching introductory anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington.
10 | P a g e