My mind immediately goes to the stories that I was told by my Elders and spiritual teachers prior to becoming an archaeologist. Such stories and information included creation stories, astronomy, oral history and how to be proud and respectful of my special gift as coming from a proud Aboriginal group of people. This knowledge connects me and all Aboriginal people to the earth and the sky. I’m a living descendant of the Werigia, Nyeri Nyeri and Wamba Wamba Peoples, whose lands are a part of what is now known as northwest Victoria. I grew up in an Aboriginal family with deep understanding of our people and country, surrounded by a Father, Mother, Great Grandmother, Great Grandfather, Great Aunties, Great Uncles, Aunties, Uncles and lots of cousins who all shared in the family histories. It was due to the support of my family and being nurtured by some great people in archaeology when I was a Cultural Heritage Officer at an early age that I graduated in archaeology and anthropology at the Australian National University in 1995. I have great hope for the discipline of archaeology in this country going forward.
What we find in the archaeological record of Aboriginal Australia is the material culture indicative of how our people lived and survived in what can be described, in part, as a harsh arid landscape, the point being that Australia is the driest place on earth other than Antarctica. However, as archaeologists we also trowel in other environmental zones other than arid Australia, places like the coastal zones, rainforests and the high country of Australia, all of which contribute to the understanding of our past. Not forgetting some of these zones are also very cold. The archaeology in this country is as diverse as the various ecosystems, past and present.
As we continually trowel our way into the past in this country and interpret the cultural history, we find we are in many ways just starting in our journey to interpret the archaeological record here in Australia.
The number of our people with retained knowledge is always slipping away and the need to commit to recording our Elders is always urgent. Whilst many people have been saying this for decades and although most of us understand this urgent need and sometimes do such, we on the whole do not. In my time, I have sat with Elders listening to their knowledge and on the rare occasion recording their given knowledge. I feel the interpretation of our past is not as enhanced as greatly as it could be with this cultural deficit which constantly plagues us. It is so depressing knowing that the cultural knowledge is constantly slipping away with each knowledge holder passing, wishing that more time and effort was spent recording them in a manner that is lasting. There are many examples over the years of not recording important local information.
During my time working in the field, laboratories, various departments, museums, libraries, historical societies and the like, I am fully aware of the rich history of our people and our lands. Archaeology in Australia is amazingly rich, reaching back more than 50,000 years. However, archaeology as a discipline in Australia is still relatively young, beginning in the 1960s, with the likes of Professor John Mulvaney. Australia has many scholars who have contributed to understanding our past and it is time for Aboriginal Australia to start celebrating such scholars as Isabel McBride, Andree Rosenfeld, Caroline Bird, Ian McNiven, Colin Pardoe, Jay Hall, Mike Smith, Sandra Bowdler, Jo McDonald, Harry Lourandos, Johan Kamminga, Annie Ross and the list goes on. Many archaeologists spend their time working directly with Aboriginal people and ensuring that our people are included in the interpretation and understanding of the past.
Australian archaeology does not suffer from a lack of projects and/or resources to research our past. However, as Aboriginal people we do suffer from a lack of Aboriginal people becoming formally qualified in the disciple of archaeology and/or associated disciplines such as anthropology, biological anthropology, geomorphology, zoology, hydrology, rock art, museum curation, conservation etc. Aboriginal archaeologists are presently low in numbers in Australia and this should not be the case in my belief. There appears to be a difficulty in producing First Nations archaeologists and yet there is a great need for more of our people in archaeology and experts in the above listed disciplines. People are getting mixed up between cultural knowledge experts and archaeology with an ever-growing debate about who controls the past. At a base level there is a divide and a power play about how to understand the past and it appears to be growing in some sectors of the country, rather than moving forward and treating the cultural workspace as a training ground and a launching pad for active participation where specialists can thrive in understanding and protecting Aboriginal heritage.
As I have said, Australian archaeology does not suffer from the lack of archaeological projects or resourcing, nor does it suffer from Aboriginal participation. It suffers from an inadequate number of specialised Aboriginal personnel in all fields relating to the archaeology conducted in this country. The Aboriginal community and those within the related disciplines need to take responsibility for addressing this deficit. For those wishing to take up studies in archaeology and have responsibilities in protecting our heritage, there must be an understanding that it is sacred to be entrusted with such a responsibility. Importantly, Elders are wary of passing on knowledge and in many instances will not do so unless the person or persons can be trusted to do it right.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).