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The last day (Sunday) of this symposium is being broadcast on the MBone, the virtual multicast network on the Internet. To receive this broadcast, you need MBone software and an MBone capable high-speed connection to the Internet.

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For more information, look at http://cyclone.ntu.edu.au, which is the interim "live" Web server.

Sound quality at present is terrible due to (we think) a ground loop problem with the audio mixer. We're trying to fix it!

The Symposium

The topic of the 1997 Fulbright symposium is 'Indigenous Cultures in an Interconnected World'. The symposium will be held at the Museum and Art Gallery of the NorthernTerritory (MAGNT), Darwin, from July 24th-27th, 1997. It will be co-hosted by the University of New England (UNE), the Australian Insitute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait lslander Studies (AIATSIS) and MAGNT. Its conveners are Claire Smith, MAGNT, formerly of UNE; Graeme Ward, AIATSIS; and Larry Zimmerman, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa. In compliance with the preferences of the Australian-American Educational Foundation, participation in the symposium will be by invitation only. There will be around fifty participants, about one third of whom will be indigenous people.

The focus of this symposium will be on the challenges and opportunities for indigenouspeoples which emerge from the mobility of modern people and the development of global communication networks. In addition, the aim is to identify and promote successful strategies used by indigenous peoples to advance recognition and acceptance of their cultural values and deal with the pressures arising from an interconnected world.

Certainly, there is an urgent need to address these issues. Cultural isolation is neither a viable (or desired) option for indigenous peoples as they increasingly key into global networks. As Shnukal (1995:52) comments (in another context), this is 'a time of previously unimaginable lifeways choice and technological change'.

This trend towards globalisation involves a redefinition of identity, and in Australia and America important facets of identity are founded on aspects of indigenous cultures. Thus, any rethinking of indigenous identities necessarily impacts upon conceptualisations of regional, national and global identities. As Wallace-Crabbe (1996: 6) points out, notions of 'culture' can expand or contract according to the needs and orientations of the moment. A central question is whether indigenous societies will be able to continue to function independently within the wider polities of which they are a part (cf. Rose 1996:18).

Two areas, in particular, will be targeted for detailed analysis at the symposium:

•  The impact of globalisation upon indigenous people and the strategies that have been developed to deal with this.
• The role of indigenous people as active participants in an interconnected world.

Thus, the symposium will consider the problems and challenges inherent in globalisation as well as successes and new opportunities. It will explore both the diversity of responses and the commonalities that emerge from contemporary interactions between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. While the primary focus lies with Australia and America, the ultimate goal is to stimulate wider debate on these issues and, hopefully, outline strategies for action in order to guide and inform both indigenous and non-indigenous policy-makers in all parts of an interconnected world.

The symposium will be structured around four sub-themes:

Globalisation and indigenous cultures.

Indigenous lifeways, cultural tourism and enterprise.

Creating identity in the information age.

The implications for social policy.

 This symposium will bring together both indigenous and non-indigenous experts across a range of disciplines who may not encounter each other in the normal way. Important initiatives are occurring in both the US and Australia. The symposium will provide a unique opportunity for key stake-holder groups across a range of areas to become familiar with each others problems, quality innovations, successful strategies and conceptual advances. This exchange should establish a foundation for important long-term dialogue on these subjects between the peoples of Australia and America. Moreover, while the focus will be on Australia and America, which have similar cultural bases and colonial histories, there are advantages that will flow-on to other countries during the course of normal international relations. Cultural tourism, for example, is widely recognised as an area with significant growth potential in regions inhabited by indigenous peoples. Yet in Southeast Asian countries this potential has only begun to be realised in the last two or three years. Thus, this symposium will stimulate debate on contemporary issues that are critical to the role of indigenous people in an interconnected world.

References

 Rose, D.B. 1996 Abstract of paper for session on 'Women and the Land' at 'Lands Rights. Past, Present and Future' conference, jointly convened by the Northern and Central Land Councils at Old Parliament House, Canberra 16 and 17 August 1996.

 Shnukal, A. 1995 Contact and 'Cultural Creolisation' in Torres Strait. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2, 52-57.

 Wallace-Crabbe, R. 1996 Globalisation and Art Cultures. Humanities Research Centre Bulletin 82, 6-17.

Other information

Organisation of symposium
Provisional Symposium Programme
Organisation of web site
Abstracts of Papers received
Other web links

Additional support

The Australia Foundation for Culture & the Humanities

To receive more information, please e-mail Claire Smith at csmith2@metz.une.edu.au.