SMH - Letters page Hard call without fieldwork Your report "Trouble in the myth business" (Herald, July 3) cannot pass without comment. The article portrayed Dr Brunton as a whistleblower, ignored for criticising indigenous interests. Ben Hills claimed Dr Brunton left academia because he was "tired of the politicisation of anthropology". Dr Brunton's next job was as research officer for the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party. Since 1990 he has had stints with the Institute of Public Affairs, which has received some funds from Western Mining and other mining interests, and the Tasman Institute. Hills's examination of the Yorta Yorta claim beggars belief. Justice Olney specifically indicated that he was not disparaging "the qualifications, experience or integrity of the [expert] witnesses concerned". Neither Shepparton nor Wangaratta was claimed and only 10 per cent of the traditional lands of the group were involved, not the "enormous piece ... of 20,000 square kilometres" quoted. As the anthropologist who undertook field work and presented evidence on behalf of the applicants, I was bemused to find Hills focusing on the role of Dr Deborah Rose (an anthropologist of the highest repute, with immense experience in Aboriginal Australia) whose involvement was sought to address theoretical issues. It was not intended that she address local ethnography. Anthropologists called by claim opponents had no field experience of the region. Despite his high profile on Aboriginal issues, Brunton admitted he had "not done anything that I would call fieldwork" anywhere in Aboriginal Australia. One may think that this placed him at something of a disadvantage when discussing such matters. - Rod Hagen, Consultant anthropologist, Hurstbridge (Vic) ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
