This year (2020) I was able to undertake a CNTA guided research placement. Both Julie Finlayson and Nic Peterson were flexible and deft in navigating both Covid restrictions and our own schedules to allow for me to embark on a challenging stint at ANU.
The project I chose to write about uses an ethnographic example of a Native Title Information Meeting to unpick some of the key issues facing new anthropologists who are working on Native Title claims. I attempt to review and consider anthropological insights which I find are paramount to the broader concepts (and legal requirements) of consultation with our clients and decision-making in Aboriginal communities.
This exercise has been useful as I have been able to have the time and support to consider what role anthropologists play in these meetings as both NTRB employees and as professional observers of culture and society.
Both Nic and Julie’s experience working with Aboriginal people, as anthropologists and people who are familiar with the land council sphere, have enhanced my own knowledge of Aboriginal society, Native Title, and my own roles within a NTRB.
I highly recommend this program to any new or experienced anthropologist who wants to inform their own practice and make sense of what they are doing from a wider academic standpoint.