Assess resources for Indigenous Knowledge and attribution
Brisbane River pattern from A Guidance Through Time by Quandamooka artists Casey Coolwell and Kyra Mancktelow © The University of Queensland
The following resources can help you to assess and evaluate resources for Indigenous Knowledge, authorship and inclusion. They also provide guidance on how to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors in your referencing.
Diversity and complexity vs stereotypes and generalisation
Before the 1980s, most material contained stereotyped and generalised information. There are now many resources which have been written by, or in consultation with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people/s. These resources often contain information about specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups, as a result illustrating the diversity and complexity of both cultural groups. Check characteristics (outlined below) of the resource and decide whether it is suitable to represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.
Resources that do NOT represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
Characteristics
- Perpetuates the concept of terra nullius
- Ignores or misrepresents Aboriginal resistance to European occupation of the land
- Overgeneralises
- Ignores the number and diversity of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal knowledges, languages, cultures and customs
- Overrepresents men
- Trivialises women’s roles in Aboriginal societies
- Presents stereotyping and racist connotations
- Assumes that all Torres Strait Islander people and Aboriginal people live in the past
- Emphasises the “exotic” to the exclusion of other cultural aspects
- Excludes Torres Strait Islander people
- Creates a "them" and "us" separation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples
- Excludes some readers by assuming a European background.
Resources that DO represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
Characteristics
- Up to date
- Accurate
- Illustrations and photographs are positive and accurate portrayals of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people, that are relevant to the text
- Photographs are accompanied by captions which name the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, or group, and indicate where they come from
- Acknowledges Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation in the research, writing and presentation processes
- Are about the local area or state
- Endorsed by local, regional, state or territory Aboriginal education consultative groups
- Endorsed by other Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander groups
- Acceptable to the local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community
- Authored and or led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars.
Check the ethnicity of authors
Check the ethnicity of the authors when you are searching for relevant resources. You can find this information by checking the authors':
- social media
- profiles on institutions' web pages
- personal web pages.
Other resources and guides
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander referencingThis UQ Library guide outlines a method to acknowledge, celebrate and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' knowledge and materials. The guide uses culturally appropriate and respectful language practices when writing with, for or about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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Indigenous referencing guidance for Indigenous knowledges (PDF, 9.2MB)This report outlines the project undertaken by Indigenous Archives Collective (IAC) members as a research and consultation partner with CAVAL. The project has created an Indigenous Knowledge Attribution Toolkit (IKAT) that includes a decision tree to provide guidance for assessing content and attribution. The IKAT decision tree (pages 6-11 of this report) includes questions which "encourage students to think about whether the source is the most appropriate source of knowledge for the research topic. Every field of academic research has Indigenous scholars and/or research publications that respectfully include Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Where possible students are encouraged to use these sources".
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AIATSIS guide to evaluating and selecting education resourcesThis guide to evaluating and selecting education resources is designed to support teachers with selecting quality and culturally appropriate curriculum resources. The guide features the AIATSIS resource evaluation framework (page 5) that teachers can use as a critical reflection tool to consider: whether Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participated in the development of the content; how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are positioned in the content; and best practice for producing curriculum resources. The guide includes a pyramid (page 3) which focuses on "valuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authorship, perspectives, and partnerships", and core questions (pages 9-10) to ask when evaluating resources for participation, positioning, and production.
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Critically appraising research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectivesThis UQ Library guide includes articles about appraising research involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for Indigenous perspectives.
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Writing about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesThis is part of the "The language of relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples" introductory guide, which aims to inform students and staff of appropriate language and provide tools for non-Indigenous peoples in the context of formal, academic communication and everyday conversations that will build and enhance those relationships.
Primary resources for historical research
Consider the importance of primary resources in historical research, which has been an important support in truth telling and in language revitalisation. Indigenous input and authorship have often gone unacknowledged in primary source materials that include Indigenous contributions. Through the auditing of collections by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections Team, in collaboration with the Fryer Library collections team, names, languages, and communities are now being identified and added to the metadata of these records. This work is happening across the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector as part of decolonising archives and collections.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources
The Library has embarked on a project to increase access and visibility of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources in our collections. Increasing the discovery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander materials with varying perspectives has the potential to contribute to the educational experience of all UQ students.