ANU National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/9491

The National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS) was established in January 2005. It is a stand-alone Centre within the ANU organisational structure and is directed by Professor Mick Dodson AM. The Centre's charter is for NCIS to be recognised as a leading academic institute for inter-disciplinary research in fields that are of relevance to Indigenous Australians, especially in relation to the enrichment of scholarly and public understandings of Australian Indigenous cultures and histories. NCIS works collaboratively with ANU research and teaching centres that are of relevance to Indigenous studies. These include the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the School of Music

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  • ItemOpen Access
    13th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2016: Reconciliation: Moving through the Post-Colonial Doo
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Wilson-Raybould, Jody
    The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould PC, QC, MP, is the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, MP for Vancouver Granville, a lawyer, advocate, and former Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations. Called to the British Columbia Bar in 2000, Jody Wilson-Raybould began her legal career as a provincial crown prosecutor in Vancouver and later served as an advisor at the British Columbia Treaty Commission. In 2004, she was elected as Commissioner by the Chiefs of the First Nations Summit. Jody Wilson-Raybould was elected Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations in 2009 and re-elected in 2012. After being elected as the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville in 2015, Jody Wilson-Raybould was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada on November 4, 2015. Minister Wilson-Raybould is a descendant of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach peoples, which are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw and also known as the Kwak’wala-speaking peoples. She is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation and is married to Dr. Tim Raybould.
  • ItemOpen Access
    15th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2018: Reconciliation, Treaty Making and Nation Building
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Yu, Peter
    Mr Peter Yu is a Yawuru Man from Broome in the Kimberley region in North West Australia with over 35 years experience in Indigenous development and advocacy in the Kimberley and at the state, national and international level. He has been an advocate for the social, cultural and economic advancement and well being of Kimberley and other Aboriginal communities for his entire career. Over this period he has been instrumental in the development of many community based regional organisations. Australia is a better nation than the political system which represents us. The failure of successive national governments and parliaments to forge pathways to recognise Indigenous peoples in the nation’s Constitution is a failure of Australia’s body politic. Peter Yu contends that constitutional recognition should not be viewed as another contentious issue – accompanied by political cajoling and maneuvering - to be ticked off along the linear trajectory of Australian nation building. It should be understood as fundamental to our moral and ethical national character akin to the tenets of the French Revolution – Liberty, Equality and Fraternity – and those self-evident truths consecrated in the American Declaration of Independence. Embracing Indigenous peoples in our Constitution is pivotal to a new relationship between Indigenous peoples and Settler Australians and a renaissance of the modern Australian State. Without this recognition the Australian nation remains tied to it colonial and bloodstained past. We are a nation denied the potential for a reconciled history after four decades of public discussion and advocacy.
  • ItemOpen Access
    8th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2011: Reconciliation in an era of globalisation
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Flannery, Tim
    Professor Tim Flannery is one of Australia's leading writers on climate change and heads up the multi-party Climate Change Commission established by the Prime Minister. An internationally-acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, Professor Flannery was named Australian of the Year in 2007. Professor Flannery used this talk to reflect on what ancient Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have to teach us all in the modern world. He discussed the rapid globalisation of the world and the common culture of social media among young people. He also discussed how people are adopting global solutions to global problems such as climate change and reflected on how the nature of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and other Australians is being influenced by these trends.
  • ItemOpen Access
    10th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2013: The road to reconciliation: Some reflections on the politics and challenges of reconciliation
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Dodson, Patrick
    Professor Patrick Dodson is a Yawuru man from Broome in Western Australia. He has dedicated his life work to being an advocate for constructive relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people based on mutual respect, understanding and dialogue. He is a recipient of the Sydney International Peace prize. He was a Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, inaugural Chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and Co-Chair of the Expert Panel for Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians. Professor Dodson lives in Broome with his family, where he is involved in social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability through his roles as Chair of the Lingiari Foundation and Executive Chair of Nyamba Buru Yawuru. He is Adjunct Professor at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Broome where he lectures in spirituality and the challenge of reconciliation. His brother, Professor Mick Dodson AM, is also a national Indigenous Australian leader and is Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at ANU. In this lecture, Professor Patrick Dodson reflects on the politics and challenges of Australia's reconciliation journey.
  • ItemOpen Access
    5th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2008: Respect is the New Black: Building on our national apology
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Bin Bakar, Mark
    Mr Mark Bin Bakar has dedicated much of his adult life to increasing cultural understanding and working tirelessly to present an insight into Indigenous culture. Mark has created many opportunities for Indigenous musicians, including establishing the very successful music school Abmusic 20 years ago. His character, Mary G, Black Queen of the Kimberley, has become a national cult figure while enabling Mark to raise awareness of important social issues facing Indigenous people. Mark travels extensively throughout remote areas talking to people about alcohol and drug abuse, health care, emotional wellbeing, respect for elders and domestic violence. In 2007, he was recognised as NAIDOC Person of the Year and West Australian of the Year, which made him a finalist for Australian of the Year in 2008. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians see reconciliation as a way to make whitefellas feel better about themselves. For Mark Bin Bakar (a member of the Kimberley Stolen Generation Community) reconciliation is a chance for Australia to demonstrate respect and empower Indigenous people. In his lecture, Mark Bin Bakar drew on his many talents to deliver a thought-provoking and entertaining ANU Reconciliation Lecture.
  • ItemOpen Access
    11th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2014: Is Australia big enough for reconciliation?
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Chaney, Fred
    NCIS was privileged to have the Honourable Frederick Michael "Fred" Chaney, former Deputy Leader of the Australian Liberal Party and Indigenous rights activist, deliver the 2014 Annual ANU Reconciliation Lecture. Mr Chaney's lecture challenged governmental approach to closing the gap despite progress Australia has seen over 50 years. "The question remains to be answered – are we big enough, generous enough, to provide room for the world's oldest living cultures to find their continuing futures?", firmly asked Mr Chaney. "My questioning, however, arises from our response to the determination of so many Indigenous people to achieve not just social and economic equality – the closing of the gap – but to maintain their collective identities and their cultures." "Later, as a young lawyer, I saw child removal for social rather than welfare reasons, and blatant abuses of the processes of the law. These early experiences drove my interest in reconciliation although that was not a term we used then." "The breadth of community engagements in 2014 stands in stark contrast with the segregated Australia of my youth, when these matters were left to a few religious bodies and to governments. In my earliest years, I would have excused any Indigenous person for saying the world was against them. In 2014, they have many allies. It is this broad community engagement which appears to me to be based on a broad community desire to settle these matters which led me to proclaim this as the most hopeful period of my life."
  • ItemOpen Access
    6th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2009: How well do we know each other?
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Dodson, Mick
    Professor Mick Dodson AM is the Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, ANU, a Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law and former Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia. Mick Dodson is a vigorous advocate of the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples in Australia and the world. He was the Regional Pacific Representative of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2004 to 2007, and was named Australian of the Year 2009. Archie Roach & Ruby Hunter are two of Australia's leading singer songwriters. They retell intimate real life stories through song which have touched the hearts and souls of audiences around the world. In 2008, they were awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for their extraordinary contributions to Australian music. Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is broadly accepted as essential to our national well-being. It is strongly desired. At an institutional level, we are more prepared to back good intentions with action. But at a more personal, intimate level, beyond celebrating the concept of reconciliation and a willingness to participate in public events: what do we really know of each other? Mick Dodson considered the private domain of reconciliation. The program included a special performance by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. A short compilation of segments from the National Film and Sound Archive's national collection was also screened as part of this special event.
  • ItemOpen Access
    7th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2010: Post normal reconciliation : using science to reframe the reconciliation agenda
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Arabena, Kerry
    Dr Kerry Arabena is the former chief executive officer of the Lowitja Institute, Australia's national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait health research. She holds a Doctorate in Human Ecology, a Bachelor of Social Work and a Graduate Diploma of Arts. A descendant of the Meriam Mer people of the Torres Strait currently residing in Canberra, Dr Arabena was the Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples Ltd inaugural board. Dr Arabena has a work and academic history including a term as the administrator of one of the most remote Aboriginal Medical Services in Australia and senior appointments in government, non-government and the private sector. She has also worked across Asia and the Pacific in projects that address gender, social justice, human rights, access and equity, service provision, harm minimisation and citizenship and represented Australia in international forums on HIV/AIDS and climate change. She was the Territory Finalist for the ACT in the Australian of the Year 2011 awards.
  • ItemOpen Access
    12th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2015: The three Rs on reconciliation: Respect, Rights and Recognition
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Rudd, Kevin
    The Honourable Kevin Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister (2007-2010, 2013) and as Foreign Minister (2010-2012). He led Australia’s response during the Global Financial Crisis, a response which was reviewed by the International Monetary Fund as the most effective stimulus strategy of all member states. Australia was the only major developed economy not to go into recession. Mr Rudd helped found the G20 (an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies) to drive the global response to the crisis, and which – in 2009 – helped prevent the crisis from spiraling into depression. Kevin Rudd is uniquely placed to offer his perspective on reconciliation in the Australian context as the Prime Minister who delivered one of the landmarks of our nation’s reconciliation journey – the National Apology to the Stolen Generations delivered on 13 February 2008. This was his first Parliamentary act as Prime Minister. In the 2015 ANU Reconciliation Lecture, Mr Rudd explored the role of symbols in our cultures and identities, and the fundamental need to link symbolic national gestures like the Apology with substantive actions and measurable outcomes, such as the Closing the Gap strategy to overcome Indigenous disadvantage. Mr Rudd examined the next step in Australian reconciliation – the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our nation’s Constitution, and the call for the inclusion of constitutional reforms as part of that process to shift the symbolic to the practical. He looked at the process to date and the need for a respectful, national discourse on recognition and rights. Mr Rudd offered his own perspective on the need for bipartisan, national political leadership to advance genuine reconciliation in Australia.
  • ItemOpen Access
    9th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2012: Fifty shades of brown
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Page, Alison
    Ms Alison Page is an award-winning designer and Executive Officer of the Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance and the National Aboriginal Design Agency, and a descendant of the Walbanga and Wadi Wadi people of the Yuin nation. Daughter of an Aboriginal man and “a ten pound pom”, Alison Page will talk about her own identity and family which is not defined by black, white, brown, or any colour. She will talk about pride where there once wasn't any. Passionate about the living definition of culture, Alison will unpack the values at the heart of Aboriginal culture and the many languages that are used through storytelling to express them. Connecting this with the broader process of reconciliation, she will argue why we need to embrace Aboriginal culture and its values as central to our national identity.
  • ItemOpen Access
    2nd ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2005: Reconciliation: A personal journey
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Thompson, Jack
    Mr Jack Thompson is one of Australia's most loved and respected actors. He has appeared in numerous Australian and American films, including: Wake In Fright (1969); the classic Sunday Too Far Away (1975); Breaker Morant (1980) for which he won an AFI award for best actor as well as an award at the Cannes International Film Festival; The Sum of Us (1993); Star Wars Ep. II (2000); and The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2003). Jack is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, an ex-director of the Film Finance Corporation, a foundation member of the Council for the National Museum of Australia, and a Life Member of the Stockman's Hall of Fame. In 1986, Jack was awarded Membership of the Order of Australia for his services to the Australian film industry. 'Reconciliation: A Personal Journey' followed Mr Thompson's involvement with Indigenous Australians throughout his life. He spoke of his time on the Council of the National Museum and the establishment of the Gallery of First Australians, his involvement with the Yolngu People and Garma in East Arnhem Land, and the role that film and television play in the education of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in relation to reconciliation.
  • ItemOpen Access
    3rd Annual ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2006
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Hartigan, John
    Mr John Hartigan leads the nation's largest newspaper group and as such, is one of corporate Australia's most influential chief executives. He is a director of News Limited in Australia, Queensland Press, Advertiser Newspapers Limited, The Herald and Weekly Times Limited, FOXTEL Management Pty Ltd, FOXTEL Cable Television Pty Ltd and Customer Service Pty Ltd. On the 10th anniversary of National Reconciliation Week, Mr Hartigan spoke about the responsibility of all sectors of the community to help close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
  • ItemOpen Access
    4th ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2007: Reconciliation, justice and equal rights
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Evatt, Elizabeth
    he Honourable Elizabeth Evatt AC graduated in law from the University of Sydney and Harvard University and practised law in Australia and England. She chaired the Royal Commission on Human Relationships, was the first Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia, 1976–1988, and went on to become President of the Australian Law Reform Commission. Elizabeth has been a part-time Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (now the Australian Human Rights Commission), a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and a Judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal. Elizabeth was Chancellor of the University of Newcastle from 1988–1994, and conducted a Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 for the Australian Government. In 2003 she became a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, based in Geneva.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Inaugural ANU Reconciliation Lecture 2004: 'Reconciliation: Beyond the bridges and sorry'
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Dodson, Patrick
    Professor Patrick Dodson is widely recognised as the 'father of reconciliation' in Australia. He is a national leader in the search for a resolution of differences between Australia's Indigenous people and their non-Indigenous brothers and sisters. He was the founding chair of the Lingiari Foundation – an Indigenous non-government advocacy and research Foundation. In presenting the Inaugural ANU Reconciliation Lecture, Patrick Dodson reflected on proposed changes in Federal Indigenous affairs policy, and urged Australians who believe in reconciliation to place the issue back at the top of the national agenda.
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    Professor Mick Dodson's final lecture as Director of NCIS
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Dodson, Mick
    In this lecture recorded at ANU on the 22nd of March, 2018 Professor Dodson outlines his journey at ANU, the story behind the establishment of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, and addresses the current status of the Centre and what his hope is for Indigenous Studies at ANU in the future.
  • ItemOpen Access
    eNewsletter (ANU National Centre for Indigenous Studies)
    (Canberra, ACT: National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS), The Australian National University) Australian National University. National Centre for Indigenous Studies (NCIS)
    The NCIS newsletter allows the Centre to share its research, the achievements of its members, and its engagement with policy and community outreach initiatives, which the Centre hopes will deepen Australia's understanding of Indigenous cultures and histories.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The continuing relevance of the Constitution for Indigenous peoples
    (Canberra, ACT: National Archives of Australia) Dodson, Mick
    As part of NAIDOC Week, Professor Mick Dodson shares his thoughts on the Constitution and its relevance for Indigenous peoples – as both 'unfinished business' for Australia, and as an issue of international human rights. Professor Dodson is a member of the Yawuru peoples, the traditional Aboriginal owners of land and waters in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. Currently Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University, he is also a Professor of Law at the ANU College of Law.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Customary land tenure issues in Australia
    (National Research Institute PNG) Dodson, Mick; McCarthy, Diana
    "The debate concerning wealth creation on communally owned indigenous land is gaining momentum in Australia. This Australian debate has implications for Papua New Guinea, given the level of influence that Australia has on Papua New Guinea through its aid program and the long-standing colonial relationship between the two countries. Given the possibility that Australian commentaries on Australian indigenous land dealings will have some bearing on Papua New Guinea land issues, this chapter aims to describe for Papua New Guineans the context in which the Australian debate occurs, the legal framework defining indigenous lands, and the ways in which indigenous land is being developed." - page 85
  • ItemOpen Access
    Nominating Canberra for National Heritage Listing
    (Canberra, ACT: Archaeological Society) Wensing, Ed
    Australia is one of the world’s oldest modern democracies. The Federation formed by the six disparate States and established by Australia’s Constitution in 1901, also created the National Capital. Canberra is the city that Federation created and Australia’s only fully planned city. It is one of a few of the world’s capital cities that were designated as such before they were created. In 2009, the then Minister for the Environment and Heritage, the Hon Peter Garrett, invited nominations for entry on Australia’s National Heritage List under the theme of ‘Australian Democracy’. It was in response to this invitation that seven professional and generally like-minded people got together and nominated Canberra to be entered on the National Heritage List. The seven people were: Associate Professor Dianne Firth, Romaldo Giurgola AO, David Headon, Stuart Mackenzie, Associate Professor Graham Sansom, Greg Wood and Ed Wensing. Canberra’s unique design and planning over the past one hundred years embodies many of the ideas and messages incorporated in the theme of Australian Democracy. We nominated virtually the whole of the ACT (with some notable exceptions), and identified many features and elements that could easily satisfy at most of the criteria for National Heritage Listing. This presentation will elaborate on the values for which Canberra can be entered on the National Heritage List. These are my personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of my fellow nominees.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Report on indigenous fishing rights in the seas with case studies from Australia and Norway
    (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Economic and Social Council, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) Smith, Carsten; Dodson, Mick
    At its eighth session, in May 2009, the Permanent Forum appointed Carsten Smith and Michael Dodson, members of the Permanent Forum, as special rapporteurs to prepare a study on indigenous fishing rights in the seas, and requested that the report be submitted to the Permanent Forum at its ninth session, in April 2010. The study includes an analysis of the potential protection of indigenous fishing rights in the seas provided by the existing international framework, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 and Apirana Mahuika et al. versus New Zealand. Case studies from Australia and Norway, with reference to conventions and States in those two respective regions (vis. Papua New Guinea in relation to the Torres Strait Treaty; Sweden and Finland in relation to the Nordic Saami Convention), are presented to enable comparison between these States and with international law.
Works in this collection of ANU Open Research are made available under a Non-Exclusive Distribution License. Copyright the author/authors.