Diane Bell | |
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Born | 1943 (age 80–81) Melbourne, Australia |
Education |
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Notable work | Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin (1998) |
Part of a series on the |
Anthropology of kinship |
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Social anthropology Cultural anthropology |
Diane Robin Bell OAM (born 1943) is an Australian anthropologist, author, and social justice advocate. Her work focuses on the Aboriginal people of Australia, Indigenous land rights, human rights, Indigenous religions, violence against women, and on environmental issues.
Bell has undertaken fieldwork in central and southeastern Australia and in North America; and held senior positions in higher education in Australia and the USA. In 2005, after 17 years in the United States, she returned to Australia, and worked on a number of projects in South Australia. As of 2023 [update] she is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., U.S., and Distinguished Honorary Professor of Anthropology at the Australian National University, Canberra.
Her books include Daughters of the Dreaming (1983/1993/2002); Generations: Grandmothers, mothers, and daughters (1987); Law: The old and the new (1980/1984); and Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin: A world that is, was, and will be (1998/2014). Evil: A novel (2005) was adapted to a play.
Diane Robin Bell [1] was born in 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria. [2] [3]
After leaving school at the age of 16, [1] she trained as a primary school teacher at Frankston Teachers College (1960-1) and taught in a range of state schools in Victoria and New South Wales between 1962 and 1970. [2]
After the birth of her children, Genevieve (1967) and Morgan (1969), [4] [2] she completed high school through night classes at Box Hill High School, Victoria (1970-1), her BA (Hons) in Anthropology at Monash University (1975), and a PhD from Australian National University (ANU) (1981). [2] [5]
In 1981, Bell worked for the newly-established Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Authority; set up her own anthropological consultancy in Canberra (1982-8); consulted for the Central Land Council, the Northern Land Council, Aboriginal Legal Aid Services, the Australian Law Reform Commission, and the Aboriginal Land Commissioner. Her academic posts included Research Fellow at the ANU (1983-6), and then as the Chair of Australian Studies at Deakin University in Geelong, where she was the first female professor on staff. [6]
In 1989, Bell moved to the United States to take up the Chair of Religion, Economic Development and Social Justice endowed by the Henry R. Luce Foundation, at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. [7] [1]
In 1999, she took up the position of Director of Women's Studies and Professor of Anthropology at the George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C. As the recipient of a fellowship in 2003–4, awarded by the peak educational body, the American Council on Education, Bell also worked closely with the senior administration of Virginia Tech as they revised their curriculum. [8]
On her retirement from GWU in 2005 she was awarded the title "Professor Emerita of Anthropology". On her return to Australia in 2005, she was appointed writer and editor in residence at Flinders University, and visiting professor, School of Social Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
As of December 2023 [update] she is Distinguished Honorary Professor of Anthropology in the College of Asia and the Pacific at ANU, [9] and [10]
Bell's first full-length anthropological monograph was Daughters of the Dreaming, which focused on the religious, spiritual and ceremonial lives of Aboriginal women in central Australia. [11] The book has been in continuous print since its first publication in 1983 and subsequent editions in 1993 and 2002 engage with the debates the work stimulated. It is now well-established practice to have women's councils as part of the decision-making and consultative structures in Aboriginal affairs. Through her research and in giving expert evidence, Bell has been able to demonstrate that Aboriginal women are owners and managers of land in their own right. [12]
In 1986, Melbourne publishers McPhee Gribble, with Bell as author, won the competitive tender from the Australian Bicentennial Authority (ABA) to write a book about women in Australia for the 1988 Bicentenary. [13] The book Generations: Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters traces ways in which significant objects in the lives of Australian women have been passed from generation to generation and explores how stories of the objects forge links with female kin. [14] Bell used an ethnographic approach to explore the commonalities of Australian women's cultures across age, time, race and region. Shortly after it was published, the book reached number one on The Age bestseller list for works of non-fiction. [15]
Throughout the latter part of the 1970s, and through most of the 1980s, Bell was involved in issues about Aboriginal land rights and law reform. With lawyer Pam Ditton, she authored Law: the old and the new. Aboriginal Women in Central Australia Speak Out (1980/1984), which addressed issues of law reform in Central Australia, in the wake of the passage of the Northern Territory Land Rights Act 1976 . Bell worked on some 10 land claims for the Central Land Council, the Northern Land Council and the then Aboriginal Land Commissioner, Justice Toohey.[ citation needed ]
In the late 1990s, Bell was drawn into the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy. In 1994, a group of Ngarrindjeri women, traditional owners of the Lower River Murray, Lakes Alexandrina, and Lake Albert and the Coorong (South Australia) had objected that a proposal to build a bridge from Goolwa to Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) near the Murray mouth would desecrate sites sacred to them as women. [16] The gender-restricted knowledge that underwrote their claim became known as "secret women's business", and was contested in the media, courts, and academy. [17] In 1996, a South Australian Royal Commission found that the women had deliberately fabricated their beliefs to thwart the development. [18] However, with one exception, the women who claimed knowledge of the sacred tradition did not give evidence at the Royal Commission because they considered it to be a violation of their religious freedoms. [19] [20]
In 1997, in the Federal Court of Australia, the developers sought compensation for the losses incurred by the delays in the building of the bridge. [21] Mr. Justice von Doussa, heard from all parties to the dispute and, although the court had been informed that the case would not be a rerun of the Royal Commission, the matter of restricted women's knowledge recurred such that 'late in the trial the applicants amended their pleadings to specifically allege that the restricted women's knowledge, which they refer to as "women's business", was not a genuine Ngarrindjeri tradition'. [22] In his 'Reasons for Decision' of August 2001, von Doussa noted 'the evidence received by the Court on this topic is significantly different to that which was before the Royal Commission. Upon the evidence before this Court I am not satisfied that the restricted women's knowledge was fabricated or that it was not part of genuine Aboriginal tradition'. [23] As to Ngarrindjeri key witness, Doreen Kartinyeri, he wrote, "I am not persuaded that I should reject Dr. Kartinyeri's evidence and find that she has lied about the restricted women's business". [24] [25]
On 4 May 2009, "The Meeting of the Waters", the site complex the Ngarrindjeri women had sought to protect through the courts, was registered by the Government of South Australia. [26] On 6 July 2010, on behalf of the SA Government, Paul Caica, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, acknowledged Von Doussa's Decision that Ngarrindjeri knowledge was a genuine part of Aboriginal tradition and apologised for the great pain and hurt to the community. [27] [28]
Bell became involved in this matter of gender-restricted knowledge after the Royal Commission. On the basis of her research in the SA archives and fieldwork with the women in 1996–8, Bell was convinced there was sufficient evidence to support the women's claims that there was gender-restricted knowledge in Ngarrindjeri society and that the women had told the truth. [29] Bell's subsequent monograph, Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin (1998/2014), was acclaimed. [30] [31] From 2005 to 2013, Bell lived on Ngarrindjeri lands as she researched and wrote the Connection Report for their Native Title Claim. [32]
Bell is the author/editor of 10 books and numerous articles and book chapters dealing with religion, land rights, law reform, art, history and social change. [33]
Bell's first published novel, Evil, addresses secrets within the church and is set on the campus of a fictional American liberal arts college. [34] Adapted by Leslie Jacobson to a play, Evil was performed for the "From Page to Stage" season on new plays at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 2006 and in Adelaide, 2008. [35] [36] Bell's play "Weaving and Whispers" was performed at the TarraWarra Museum of Arts Biennial in 2014. [37]
Bell ran as an independent candidate in the 2008 Mayo by-election, caused by the resignation of former foreign minister and Liberal leader Alexander Downer. [38] Her campaign was called Vote4Di and was supported by a campaign website. [39] [40] South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon gave support to Bell's campaign. [41] [42] In a field of eleven candidates and the absence of a Labor candidate, Bell finished third on a 16.3 percent primary vote, behind the Greens on 21.4 (+10.4) percent and the Liberals on 41.3 (–9.8) percent. The seat became marginal for the Liberals on a 53.0 (–4.0) two-candidate vote. [43]
Bell campaigned for fresh water flows for the River Murray, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert and the Coorong. [44] In 2007, she was a co-founder of the 'StoptheWeir' website and worked with the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group Inc to stop the construction of a weir across the River Murray at Pomanda Island (at the point where the river enters Lake Alexandrina). [45] She administered the "Hurry Save The Murray" website [46] [47] and has been a frequent speaker and commentator on environmental matters online, in the media and in preparing submissions and giving evidence to various environmental inquiries. [48]
Bell served on the board of trustees for Hampshire College for eight years. [49]
She has served on the editorial boards of several journals (Aboriginal History 1979–1988; Women's Studies International Forum 1990–2005) and was a contributing member of the editorial board for the Longmans Encyclopedia (1989) Macmillan, the Encyclopedia of World Religions (2005) and the Encyclopedia of Religion in Australia (2009).[ citation needed ]
Bell was a contributing consultant to National Geographic on their Taboo TV series (2002-4). [50]
Coorong National Park is a protected area located in South Australia about 156 kilometres (97 mi) south-east of Adelaide, that predominantly covers a coastal lagoon ecosystem officially known as The Coorong and the Younghusband Peninsula on the Coorong's southern side. The western end of the Coorong lagoon is at the Murray Mouth near Hindmarsh Island and the Sir Richard Peninsula, and it extends about 130 kilometres (81 mi) south-eastwards. Road access is from Meningie. The beach on the coastal side of the peninsula, the longest in Australia, is also commonly called The Coorong.
The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional Aboriginal Australian people of the lower Murray River, eastern Fleurieu Peninsula, and the Coorong of the southern-central area of the state of South Australia. The term Ngarrindjeri means "belonging to men", and refers to a "tribal constellation". The Ngarrindjeri actually comprised several distinct if closely related tribal groups, including the Jarildekald, Tanganekald, Meintangk and Ramindjeri, who began to form a unified cultural bloc after remnants of each separate community congregated at Raukkan, South Australia.
Hindmarsh Island is an inland river island located in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia.
Dr Ron Brunton is an Australian anthropologist. He was the director of Encompass Research Pty Ltd, and was on the Board of the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for a five-year term from 1 May 2003.
The Ramindjeri or Raminjeri people were an Aboriginal Australian people forming part of the Kukabrak grouping now otherwise known as the Ngarrindjeri people. They were the most westerly Ngarrindjeri, living in the area around Encounter Bay and Goolwa in southern South Australia, including Victor Harbor and Port Elliot. In modern native title actions a much more extensive territory has been claimed.
The Warki are a lakalinyeri (tribe) of the Ngarrindjeri Australian Aboriginal people of southern Australia.
Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter, also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach.
James Unaipon, born James Ngunaitponi, was an Australian Indigenous preacher of the Warrawaldie Lakalinyeri of the Ngarrindjeri.
Ngarrindjeri, also written Narrinyeri, Ngarinyeri and other variants, is the language of the Ngarrindjeri and related peoples of southern South Australia. Five dialects have been distinguished by a 2002 study: Warki, Tanganekald, Ramindjeri, Portaulun and Yaraldi.
The Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a 1990s Australian legal and political controversy that involved the clash of local Aboriginal Australian sacred culture and property rights. A proposed bridge to Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa, South Australia attracted opposition from many local residents, environmental groups and indigenous leaders. In 1994, a group of Ngarrindjeri women elders claimed the site was sacred to them for reasons that could not be revealed. The case attracted much controversy because the issue intersected with broader concerns about Indigenous rights, specifically Aboriginal land rights, in the Australian community at the time, and coincided with the Mabo and Wik High Court cases regarding Native title in Australia.
The Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission was a Royal Commission into the nature of female Aboriginal religious beliefs relating to Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island in South Australia that was triggered by the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy.
Australian Aboriginal fibrecraft refers to the various ways Aboriginal Australians create fibres traditionally. Materials used depend on where the people live in Australia.
Clayton Bay is a town in South Australia located on Lake Alexandrina and Lower Murray River, part of the lower lakes and Coorong region at the end of the Murray River System. The town is located north of the north-east tip of Hindmarsh Island about 87 kilometres (54 mi) from Adelaide and 30.7 kilometres (19 mi) by road from Goolwa.
John William von Doussa is a former Australian judge and public servant. He was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1988 to 2003, president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 2003 to 2008, and chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 2004 to 2010.
Maria was a brigantine of 136 tons, built in Dublin, Ireland, and launched in 1823 as a passenger ship.
The Aboriginal South Australians are the Indigenous people who lived in South Australia prior to the British colonisation of South Australia, and their descendants and their ancestors. There are difficulties in identifying the names, territorial boundaries, and language groups of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia, including poor record-keeping and deliberate obfuscation, so only a rough approximation can be given here.
The Jarildekald people, also known as Yarilde or Yaralde, are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia originating on the eastern side of Lake Alexandrina and the Murray River.
The Tanganekald people were or are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia, today classed as part of the Ngarrindjeri nation.
The Bodaruwitj, also rendered Bedaruwidj or Potaruwutj, and referred to in some early sources as the Tatiara, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of South Australia. David Horton believed they were the group his sources referred to as the Bindjali people. Austlang refers to Bindjali / Bodaruwitj as alternative names for the same language.
Catherine Joan Ellis was an Australian ethnomusicologist. She co-founded the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide in 1972.