Peter Sutton in discussion with David Martin

Summary:  Peter Sutton is a renowned anthropologist and linguist with extensive experience in Native Title claims as well as claims under Queensland’s Aboriginal Land Act and the Northern Territory Land Rights Act. His Native Title in Australia: an ethnographic perspective published in 2003 continues to be a must-go-to for anthropologists working in the Native Title arena.

In this podcast, which draws from his 2003 publication Native Title in Australia: an ethnographic perspective, Peter outlines in conversation with fellow anthropologist David Martin a number of concepts key to the insights and reasoning  of  anthropologists working in the Native Title arena. These include Peter’s concept of ‘core’ and ‘contingent’ rights and interests;  implications of the transition in Aboriginal landed groups from (typically) patrilineal to cognatic descent in post-classical societies; mistakes commonly made regarding the concept of the ‘apical ancestors’ of contemporary landed groups; the differences between a cognatic stock (all the descendants of a given apical ancestor) and the contemporary landed group based on cognatic descent; and the crucial role of choice of their landed identity exercised by individual descendants of a given forebear in establishing a cognatic ‘family’ landed group drawn from that wider stock.

Contact details
Email: Peter.Sutton@samuseum.sa.gov.au