Models of Being Models of Doing and the dialogues between them: The Stolen Generations and the Re-development of Redfern and Waterloo
Tiffany McComsey, Social Anthropology, University of Manchester
My fieldwork experience of two and a half years has been divided between a focus on members of the Stolen Generations in Redfern and the redevelopment of Redfern and Waterloo, with particular emphasis on the Aboriginal community’s experience of this. The connection between two seemingly disparate foci of study comes from my location in the field, which was as a volunteer in some of the community organisations and groups as well as my participation in meetings held in relation to the redevelopment of the area and other community events. Before I started my fieldwork I wrote in my research proposal that ‘‘The study of the Stolen Generations allows for an examination of the ‘post-colonial’ relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, which requires direct attention to be paid to the consequences of non-Indigenous Australian policies and interventions into the lives of Indigenous Australians, and the Indigenous responses to such interventions.’ Having both lost and kept this in mind throughout my fieldwork, I have focused it on the relationship between the Stolen Generations and the Re-development of Redfern and Waterloo as ‘post colonial’ experiences of Aboriginal and Non Indigenous relationships, with models of being and doing, and with the dialogues between them.
