'The range of papers and research reports in this non-thematic edition of Australian Aboriginal Studies reflects the growing depth in the field of research shaping up as Australian Indigenous Studies in the twenty-first century. The papers and reports cover a range of disciplines now collectively regarded as core to Indigenous Studies, including social, scientific, historical and health research areas. Threaded through this volume is a clear mandate from communities that they now drive research agendas. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities engender and influence research projects and work in collaboration with academics to undertake the research. It is gratifying to see this evolve: best practice in ethical research, in which community agency in research is foregrounded, is a key aim of research at AIATSIS.' (Editorial introduction)
'This tiny book, Bakir and Bi, written by Torres Strait Islander Jillian Boyd and illustrated by her niece, Tori-Jay Mordey, is like a key that opens a box of Torres Strait geographical history, local languages, traditional stories and customs, and cultural invasion...' (Introduction)
'Steady steady the life and music of Seaman Dan is, as the title suggests, about the life of Uncle Seaman Dan and his music It is great to see this book, co-written with Karl Neuenfeldt, because it is important for Torres Strait Islander Elders to share their stories with their families, communities, and the wider Australian and international audience.' (Introduction)
'Entangled subjects: Indigenous/Australian cross cultures of talk, text and modernity by Michele Grossman is an exploration into the area of contemporary collaborative Australian Indigenous life writing. Grossman positions this research in the context of her cultural history, location and heritage as part of a HungarianJewish diaspora in New York. Because this has deeply informed her interpretative practices and, in her own words, ‘blind spots’, this self-reflexive approach has led her to question the norms that guide cultural desires, assumptions and expectations that Western readers bring to texts and their understanding and value of reading and writing more generally. The result is a critique of the conventional anthropological and literary binary between orality and literacy' (Introduction)
'Until this book arrived on my desk I had not heard of AM Fernando. Few know of him, either in Australia or elsewhere. While the ‘A’ and the ‘M’ might indeed stand for ‘Anthony Martin’, the name ‘Fernando’ is moot: it appears likely the man took this name to signal his affection for Italy, where he was treated as a man, a human being. There exists no known contemporaneous likeness — neither photographic nor artistic — of the man.' (Introduction)
