Developing a holistic and collaborative approach for the archaeology of Australian South Sea Islanders in Queensland

Bibliographic Data

ID6038996
AuthorsImelda Miller (Queensland Museum), Zia Youse (Central Queensland University), Tomasina Bickey (independent scholar), Eve Haddow (0000-0003-0583-6950, University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology), Geraldine Mate (0000-0002-0809-6559, Queensland Museum), Adele Zubrzycka (0000-0003-2180-5601, The University of Queensland), Jonathan Prangnell (0000-0001-6915-8277, The University of Queensland), Andrew Fairbairn (0000-0002-4004-6957, The University of Queensland), Helena Robinson (0000-0003-0717-4639, University of Technology Sydney Sydney Australia), Thomas Baumgartl (0000-0003-1613-7522, Federation University), J L Flexner (0000-0002-2577-5991, The University of Sydney, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume59
Issue3
Pages435-449
Publication date2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeology in Oceania/Archæology & physical anthropology in Oceania (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0728-4896 • E-ISSN: 1834-4453
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/arco.5330
OpenAlexW4401100990
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

Australian South Sea Islanders are a distinctive cultural group comprising descendants of over 60000 labourers who came to Australia from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and elsewhere in the Western Pacific between 1863 and 1904. “Blackbirded” labourers were commonly referred to as victims of a slave trade, though many also came voluntarily to work in the sugar plantations of northern New South Wales and Queensland. The advent of racist exclusionary immigration policies introduced from 1901 further forced South Sea Islanders to the margins of colonial society. Yet many Australian South Sea Islanders would argue their untold history speaks to resilience and overcoming adversity. Australian South Sea Islanders have a distinctive cultural heritage, including material culture, oral traditions embedded in the landscape and connections to places – from sugar mills to domestic sites – revealed archaeologically. This heritage must be approached sensitively given its association with sometimes difficult histories but is crucial to understanding the contributions of Australian South Sea Islanders to Australian society, contemporary communities and identities, and historical and social significance across multiple scales. Collaborative research with Australian South Sea Islanders pushes the boundaries of “community archaeology” by taking a slow approach to research, reframing ethnographic objects and cultural landscapes, and producing an archaeology that can include many voices

Archaeology · Cognitive reframing · Colonialism · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Geography · Pacific islanders · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access