Description
Book Synopsis
Since the 1967 constitutional referendum, Australian governments have moved towards policies of indigenous self-determination. This book, first published in 2000, presents the central issue of self-determination, as seen by Dr H. C. Coombs: through what political mechanisms will indigenous Australians find their own voice?
Trade Review
'Rowse has produced the first comprehensive political history of the federal administration of indigenous affairs in late twentieth-century Australia … for those interested in his innovative approach to governance, Obliged to be Difficult is an essential work.' The Times Literary Supplement
'… for those who want to understand how negotiations evolved between indigenous groups and successive Australian governments, or who want to draw useful comparisons with other such interactions, this volume offers real insights into the complexities of the process. It also paints a fine biographic portrait of an extraordinary man.' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
Table of Contents
1. The modest mandate of 1967; 2. 'Land ownership for Aborigines presents difficult problems'; 3. Mediating the Yolngu; 4. Voice and feet; 5. North and South; 6. A national Indigenous leadership?; 7. Clans and councils; 8. As nasty a piece of chicanery as I can remember; 9. Effectively Aboriginal; 10. An Indigenous public sphere; 11. From James Cook to Eva Valley; 12. The 1940s in the 1990s.
