Native Title Research in Australian Anthropology

Abstract

Anthropology's involvement with Australian Indigenous people seeking to obtain legal rights, particularly in the context of the Native Title Act, has been subject to considerable critique both within and outside of the academy. The collected papers in this volume provide a constructive case for best approaches in this applied anthropological research, given the apparent constraints of the legal environment and the necessity to retain professional anthropological integrity. Issues of cultural change and identification of the relevant traditional ‘law and custom’ continuing through time are among a range of matters at the intersection of Australian and Aboriginal customary law. This collection assembles papers that demonstrate the relevance and significance of applied research in this area.