Crossing Boundaries: Cultural, legal, historical and practice issues in native title

(Paperback)

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Description

Ever since the 1992 Mabo decision put an end to the legal fiction that Australia was without owners before the arrival of the British colonisers, the work associated with resolving native title claims has developed as a significant but often difficult arena of professional practice. Increasingly, anthropologists, linguists, historians and lawyers have been encouraged to work collaboratively, often in the context of highly charged public controversy about who owns the land. In Crossing Boundaries, editor Sandy Toussaint and her contributors have created a cross-disciplinary exploration of native title work. Justice Robert French explores the evolution of native title law, while former Aboriginal Affairs Minister and Member of the National Native Title Tribunal, Fred Chaney, illuminates its rigorous requirements. Professor David Trigger considers controversies over the professional role of anthropologists in native title cases, while lawyer Carolyn Tan discusses the sensitive issue of Indigenous claimants' rights to confidentiality and legal privilege, and how this impacts on expert consultants. A barrister, an anthropologist and a historian compare their experiences of working on the Miriuwung Gajerrong claim in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In all, twenty professionals share their experience and expertise. As Toussaint concludes: Chapters in this volume reveal the extent to which native title workers need to communicate more cogently and, in some cases, to redefine their practice.'

Reviews

"'The legal recognition of native title has given rise to issues and processes that provide challenges to anthropologists, linguists, historians and lawyers. Those issues not only cross the boundaries of these areas of expertise, but also involve the whole community.' - Fred Chaney"

Author Bio

Sandy Toussaint is a senior lecturer in anthropology at the University of Western Australia. She has worked extensively on matters related to lands, waters and laws with Kimberley Indigenous communities. Her publications include Phyllis Kaberry and Me: Anthropology, History and Aboriginal Australia (MUP), Applied Anthropology in Australasia (co-edited with Jim Taylor), and A Jury of Whose Peers An Examination of the Cultural Politics of Juries in Australia (co-edited with Kate Auty).