Aboriginal Family And The State

Aboriginal Family and the State examines the contemporary relations and history of Indigenous families in Australia, specifically referencing issues of government control and recent official recognition of Aboriginal 'traditional owners'. Drawing on detailed empirical research, it develops a discussion of the anthropological issues of kinship and relatedness within colonial and 'postcolonial' contexts. This volume explores the conditions affecting the formation of 'family' among indigenous people in rural northern Australia, as well as the contingencies of 'family' in the legal and political context of contemporary indigenous claims to land. With a rich discussion of the production, practice and inscription of social relations, this volume examines everyday expressions of 'family', and events such as meetings and funerals, demonstrating that kinship is formed and reformed through a complicated social practice of competing demands on identity.

Aboriginal Family and the State examines the contemporary relations and history of Indigenous families in Australia, specifically referencing issues of government control and recent official recognition of Aboriginal 'traditional owners'. Drawing on detailed empirical research, it develops a discussion of the anthropological issues of kinship and relatedness within colonial and 'postcolonial' contexts. This volume explores the conditions affecting the formation of 'family' among indigenous people in rural northern Australia, as well as the contingencies of 'family' in the legal and political context of contemporary indigenous claims to land. With a rich discussion of the production, practice and inscription of social relations, this volume examines everyday expressions of 'family', and events such as meetings and funerals, demonstrating that kinship is formed and reformed through a complicated social practice of competing demands on identity.

Since the 1980s, bands and tribal councils have developed unique community-based child welfare services to better protect Aboriginal children. Protecting Aboriginal Children explores contemporary approaches to the protection of Aboriginal children through interviews with practising social workers employed at Aboriginal child welfare organizations and the child protection service in British Columbia. It places current practice in a sociohistorical context, describes emerging practice in decolonizing communities, and identifies the effects of political and media controversy on social workers. This is the first book to document emerging practice in Aboriginal communities and describe child protection practice simultaneously from the point of view of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social worker.

This volume addresses the contentious and topical issue of aboriginal self-government over child welfare. Using case studies from Australia and Canada, it discusses aboriginal child welfare in historical and comparative perspectives and critically examines recent legal reforms and changes in the design, management and delivery of child welfare services aimed at securing the 'decolonization' of aboriginal children and families. Within this context, the author identifies the limitations of reconciling the conflicting demands of self-determination and sovereignty and suggests that international law can provide more nuanced and culturally sensitive solutions. Referring to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is argued that the effective decolonization of aboriginal child welfare requires a journey well beyond the single issue of child welfare to the heart of the debate over self-government, self-determination and sovereignty in both national and international law.

Traditionally associated with the federal government, Aboriginal policy has arguably become a far more complex reality. With or without formal self-government, Aboriginal communities and nations are increasingly assertive in establishing their own authority in areas as diverse as education, land management, the administration of justice, family and social services, and housing. The 2013 State of the Federation volume gathers experts and practitioners to discuss the contemporary dynamics, patterns, and challenges of Aboriginal multilevel governance in a wide range of policy areas. Recent court decisions on Aboriginal rights, notably on the duty to consult, have forced provincial and territorial governments to develop more sustained relationships with Aboriginal organizations and governments, especially in the management of lands and resources. Showing that Aboriginal governance is, more than ever, a multilevel reality, contributors address questions such as: What are the challenges in negotiating and implementing these bilateral and trilateral governance agreements? Are these governance arrangements conducive to real and sustained Aboriginal participation in the policy process? Finally, what are the implications of these various developments for Canadian federalism and for the rights and status of Aboriginal peoples in relation to the Canadian federation?

Reproduction of the original: The Family among the Australian Aborigines by Bronislaw Malinowski