The Royal Australian Historical Society is proud to partner with the Professional Historians Association NSW-ACT for our first-ever NAIDOC Week seminar at Springwood. The seminar will celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ resilience and activism and appeal to anyone interested in bringing Aboriginal people to the forefront of local history and state archives collections.
We are thrilled to host Emeritus Professor John Maynard as our keynote speaker. Professor Maynard is a Worimi man from the Port Stephens region of NSW. His presentation will mark the centenary of organised Aboriginal political activism in Australia, drawing on research from his updated book, Fight for Liberty and Freedom, which tells the story of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA). Formed in 1924 under the leadership of John’s grandfather, Fred Maynard, the AAPA’s 1920s platform remains relevant to Aboriginal activism today.
Professional Historian and RAHS Councillor Dr Mark Dunn also joins the seminar program. His presentation will discuss ways researchers and historians can uncover Aboriginal/First Nations history through local history. Using specific examples from different places, his talk will outline methods and approaches to help researchers, records to consider, challenges to expect, and protocols to consider.
Jasmyn Irwin (Senior Advisor, First Nations Community Access to Archives) and Emily Hanna (Lead Archivist, Collection Discovery) from the Museums of History NSW round out the seminar. They will guide participants through the Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project, which seeks to improve First Nations’ access to archival material about culture, kinship, stories, and languages within the State Archives Collection.
For more information and bookings, visit: https://www.rahs.org.au/shop/tickets-2024-naidoc-seminar/