On 14 November 2024, the University held its first Indigenous Research Symposium. The day brought together a range of guest speakers to celebrate Indigenous innovation in research and practice and to launch the Institute of Indigenous Knowledges.
Thanks to a $1 million donation from former Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) curator and author Ian Terry, the institute aims to empower Aboriginal people in the Tasmanian academic space.
Director of the new institute Associate Professor Sadie Hackenberg, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Aboriginal Leadership, said the launch of the Institute of Indigenous Knowledges was a great celebration.
“For me it’s a really emotional day; I think it’s emotional for everyone,” she said.
“The institute will be a place of innovative collaboration, Indigenous-led research, and strategic vision.
“Honouring Lutruwita, the beautiful Country we are on, and centring Palawa, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems, the institute brings together collaborative partnerships that empower Indigenous people and highlight Indigenous research impact across Tasmania, Australia and the world.”
Professor Greg Lehman, Professorial Fellow, Aboriginal Research, added that the symposium and creation of the new institute was confirmation that, “First Nations’ culture on this island, across this nation and the world is alive and well, vibrant, innovative, creative and transforming all the time.
“The institute will bring Indigenous people from around Australia and the world to inform, collaborate and inspire University of Tasmania researchers from across all disciplines to recognise the value and relevance of Indigenous knowledge and research methods in addressing the contemporary challenges we all face,” Professor Lehman said, citing the example of applying Indigenous knowledge in marine conservation.
Keynote speaker at the symposium was Jillian West, a Bunurong and Palawa woman, who spoke of the importance of education in cultural knowledge.
Donor Ian Terry worked at TMAG as a curator of history. As part of his role, he co-curated the exhibition Our Land: parrawa, parrawa! Go Away!, which interrogates frontier conflict in colonial Tasmania, with the Indigenous Cultures curator, Tony Brown.
“I’m particularly interested in invasion and colonisation, and the impact on Aboriginal people,” Ian said.
“It led to my book Uninnocent Landscapes — Following George Augustus Robinson’s Big River Mission,’ he said.
“I’ve been in Tasmania for 40 years; I moved down from Sydney in 1984 and immediately fell in love with the place.
“I’ve had a fortunate life here, and am very aware that my fortune and good life came at the expense of Indigenous people in Tasmania.”
After receiving an inheritance from his parents, Ian made inquiries to the University about setting up a scholarship for an Indigenous student but was inspired by an idea of Professor Greg Lehman to broaden the scope of the support. The idea led to discussions to set up what has become the Institute of Indigenous Knowledges.
“The institute will be an avenue for important research — a directed opportunity to conduct research into things that are of assistance to Aboriginal people, particularly in Tasmania,” Ian said.
“I hope it will assist both the current Aboriginal community and be of long-term benefit to Aboriginal people in Tasmania.
“It’s more than just esoteric research. It’s about research that will have positive outcomes for Aboriginal people in Tasmania.
“But it’s not for me to decide what those outcomes should be. It’s up to Tasmanian Aboriginal people to define what research they want to do and what outcomes they want.
“The institute will create a space where Tasmanian Aboriginal people get to make the decisions, get to define the research and what the outcomes should be.”
Ian Terry
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