"And I was a stockman myself…" Interpreting Aboriginal Women’s Work

Social historians concerned with race relations studies are confronted by enormous gaps in evidence when their research relates to non-literate peoples. Consequently, interviews, oral histories, and most valuably; life histories, are becoming increasingly recognized as essential fonns of historical evidence. C-1.tural and linguistic barrierEr~onfronted in the collection of such personal oral evidence. The most serious obstacles, however, might be overcome by resorting to an interdisciplinary approach involving the collaboration of linguists, anthropologists, and historians . This is already beginning and should greatly enrich the study of race relations in Australia. To my knowledge there has not yet appeared a substantial socio-historical analysis of post-contact Aboriginal history which utilizes oral evidence as a major source. My research into the role of Aborigines in the Northern Territory cattle industry 1911 to 1939 presents an opportunity to do so, as there are numerous o1der people living on northern settlements who worked on stations during the latter half of the period under focus. Several have already been willing to co-operate and share their pre-war reminiscences

Xavier Herbert: Forgotten or Repressed?

Xavier Herbert is one of Australia’s outstanding novelists and one of the more controversial. In his time, he was also an outspoken public figure. Yet many young Australians today have not heard of the man or his novels. His key works Capricornia (1938) and Poor Fellow My Country (1975) won major awards and were judged as highly significant on publication, yet there has been relatively little analysis of their impact. Although providing much material for Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster film Australia (2008), his works are rarely recommended as texts in school curricula or in universities. Gough Whitlam took a particular interest in the final draft of Poor Fellow My Country, describing it as a work of ‘national significance’ and ensuring the manuscript was sponsored to final publication. In 1976 Randolph Stow described it as ‘THE Australian classic’. Yet, a search of the Australian Literature database will show that it is one of the most under-read and least taught works in the Australian literary canon. In our view, an examination of his legacy is long overdue. This collection brings together new scholarship that explores the possible reasons for Herbert’s eclipse within public recognition, from his exposure of unpalatable truths such as interracial intimacy, to his relationship with fame. This reevaluation gives new readings of the works of this important if not troublesome public intellectual and author

Information security, data breaches, and protecting cardholder information: facing up to the challenges

On September 13 and 14, 2006, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Electronic Funds Transfer Association (EFTA) hosted a conference entitled “Information Security, Data Breaches, and Protecting Cardholder Information: Facing Up to the Challenges.” The two-day event was designed to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders from the U.S. payments industry to discuss a framework to guide industry practices and inform public policy. This paper summarizes key highlights from this event. Conference participants emphasized that the industry must address two fundamental issues: (1) increasingly dangerous threats to sensitive consumer information and (2) public perception and understanding of the risks from data breaches. These challenges are related but need different solutions. A consensus emerged that while the situation is not yet dire, it is serious, and warrants attention from all payments stakeholders.Data protection ; Payment systems ; Computer security

Message from Mungo

Lake Mungo is an ancient Pleistocene lake-bed in south-western New South Wales, and is one of the world’s richest archaeological sites. MESSAGE FROM MUNGO focuses on the interface over the last 40 years between the scientists on one hand, and, on the other, the Indigenous communities who identify with the land and with the human remains revealed at the site. This interface has often been deeply troubled and contentious, but within the conflict and its gradual resolution lies a moving story of the progressive empowerment of the traditional custodians of the area. The film tells a new story that has not been represented in print or film before, and is told entirely by actual participants from both the science and Indigenous perspectives. As the co-director, Andrew Pike has said, "We have made minimal use of archival footage and external devices such as mood music, to keep the focus on the oral story-telling of the participants." The story focuses on one particular archaeological find – the human remains known generally as “Mungo Lady”. In 1968, scientist Jim Bowler came across some unusual materials exposed by erosion. Archaeologist Rhys Jones soon identified these as the remains of a young woman who had been given a formal ritual of cremation. Other scientists confirmed that they were the remains of a young woman who had been given a formal ritual of cremation. The remains were the subject of international academic excitement and debate: claims were made that the remains were as much as 40,000 years old or even older. Lake Mungo became recognised as an archaeological site of world importance. Through the 1970s and 80s, led by three remarkable Aboriginal women – Alice Kelly, Tibby Briar and Alice Bugmy - and encouraged by archaeologist Isabel McBryde, Aboriginal groups associated with Mungo began to question the work of the scientific community, and became increasingly involved in the management of archaeological work. In 1992, after much pressure from Indigenous groups, the remains of Mungo Lady were handed back to the Indigenous custodians. This hand-back ceremony was a turning point in the relationship between scientists and the local tribal groups. The film was made over an 8 year period and included extensive consultation with members of the Indigenous communities at Mungo. The film is rare in that it is a creative collaboration between a professional historian (Prof Ann McGrath from the ANU's Centre for Indigenous History) and a filmmaker (Andrew Pike). The film is radically different in style and intent from any previous film about Mungo

Translating histories: Australian Aboriginal narratives, history and literature

Can literature exist without history? Can history exist without literature? I argue that Indigenous authors and artists are now leading the way towards new tellings of Australian history which go beyond the last ice age. In Australia, the topic of 'Aboriginal History' is conventionally narrated from the starting date of 1788, with the British arrival to the shores around Sydney Harbour. From the late 1970s, historians started to fill the erasure of written narratives. They tried to address the neglected Aboriginal side of an Australian history that had been presented as a white narrative of nation. However, as my own work attests, we historians still followed the same dates as many other authors of national history. In Creating a Nation, a feminist history of Australia that I co-authored with Patricia Grimshaw, Marilyn Lake and Marian Quartly, I wrote about 'Birthplaces' at Port Jackson, a story of gendered encounter. In my edited volume, Contested Ground: Aborigines under the British Crown, it seemed appropriate to start in 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convicts and the marine officers in charge. I But I no longer believe this is adequate. Such a 'false start' is a narrative trick that we have replayed for too long

'Stories for country': Aboriginal history, oral history, and land claims

In January 1985 I travelled to Darwin to appear as an expert witness for the Northern Land Council in the Upper Daly land claim. While awaiting another expert (on potatoes!) to complete his lengthy evidence, several days were spent nervously shuffling through documents, in unsettling view of the hotel's palmy pool. More than ready to be cross-examined, I was glad to be in the witness stand at last. But my seat was hardly warm when counsel for the objectors asked that the Land Commissioner rule my historical submission inadmissable. This was on the grounds that the oral history material included was ' rank hearsay' . I was outraged; is this what lawyers think of oral history

The Past Is In Front of Us: A Deep Human History?

The time-shallow national anniversary traditions premised upon imperial ‘firsts’ continue to divide ‘history’ from the long duree of Australia’s human past. This talk will first consider the 1901 re-enactment of Captain Cook’s landing at Botany Bay, which represented an effort to reify the first British arrivals. Yet it arguably became a demonstration of multiple sovereignties. Secondly it will consider whether it possible to bridge these barriers, especially without the device of clear-cut ‘arrival event’ or landing dates? In other words, how might the 60,000 year span of human experience in Australia enter the realm of ‘history’ – if indeed it should? While sacredness and sovereignty are integral to conversations around nation, law and identity, only European sacred time is allocated historical dates. If historians are to contribute to understanding the long history of Indigenous Australia, the pro-fession will need to collaborate with Indigenous knowledge holders and work closely with other disciplines, including archaeology and linguistics. Such research will require different kinds of techniques, approaches, sources and possibly a different kind of periodization. We hope to at-tempt some of this in our recently commenced Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate program ‘Rediscovering the Deep Human Past: Global Networks, Future Opportunities’. By holding annual symposia and workshops on themes that include time, language, rock art and Indigenous memory narratives, the Laureate team aims to test a range of potential methodologies