[Anthropgrad] Friday Seminar (14 Dec 07)

[Sin Wen Lau]

Milgate Room, AD Hope
Friday 14 December 2007, 3pm

Catherine Wohlan will be presenting her pre-field paper this week. Do 
come along and share your insights.

Abstract:
My research will be with Indigenous people on the Dampier Peninsula 
north of Broome, Western Australia. The Broome region holds a reputation 
as an exceptionally multicultural society. This multiculturalism extends 
to the Dampier Peninsula although the proportion of Europeans drops 
dramatically once outside Broome. The most significant European presence 
on the Peninsula has been the Catholic church which established Beagle 
Bay mission there in 1890. Many Peninsula residents now live on land 
known as 'blocks', but grew up at the Mission. My research will focus on 
the changing strategies adopted by former Mission residents to support 
themselves as they seize the opportunities offered by changing policies 
in Indigenous affairs. These quite radical changes raise questions about 
identity, the construction of the self and the nature of the Peninsula 
community.

Under the Mission regime the pressure was for integration into the wider 
economy, but the opportunities were relatively limited. More recently 
there has been a great expansion of economic opportunities, especially 
because of tourism, leading many Peninsula residents to establish 
tourism ventures on their blocks, marketing the 'pristine' environment 
and cultural experiences. At the same time, the Browse Gas project off 
the north-west is targeting the Peninsula as a proposed site for either 
an on or offshore processing plant. How people take advantage of these 
opportunities and at the same time manage their relations with each 
other is at the heart of this research project.

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Lau Sin Wen
Department of Anthropology
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT0200
Australia

Telephone : +61-2-6125-3271
Fax	 : +61-2-6125-4896
Email	 : sinwen.lau at anu.edu.au
Website	 : http://rspas.anu.edu.au/anthropology
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