Diane Elizabeth McEachern Barwick (29 April 1938 – 4 April 1986) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and Aboriginal-rights

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. She was also a renowned researcher and teacher in the field of

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

culture and society.

Early life and education

Barwick was born on 29 April 1938 in

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British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. Her father was Ronald Bernard McEachern, who was a forest worker, high rigger, and camp manager, nicknamed 'Bear Tracks', and her mother was Beatrice Rosemond, née O’Flynn.Tim Rowse, 'Barwick, Diane Elizabeth (1938–1986)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2007, accessed online 27 April 2015
/ref> Barwick attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, graduating with honours in 1959. Her undergraduate thesis, ''The Logging Camp as Sub-Culture'', focused on the subculture of the loggers of Englewood Valley and was based on fieldwork conducted in a number of logging camps.The Encyclopedia of Women and Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia
Australian Women's Archives Project 2014 After graduating, she spent a year working at the Provincial Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. In 1960, she moved to Australia, where she undertook a PhD at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(ANU) on scholarship, receiving it in 1964.

Career

From March 1966 to June 1972, she was a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU. She undertook research and teaching at the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She was employed as a tutor and a lecturer at ANU from 1974 to 1978. In 1979, she was a temporary research fellow in the Department of History, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU for a year. In 1964, she became a founding member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS). In 1978, she was the first woman to be elected to AIAS's council. Until 1982, she aided in the publications of the institute. From 1982 to 1986, she became a councillor for the institute's history committee; between 1983 and 1986, she had chaired the executive publications committee. In May 1985, she was appointed by the AIAS in an honorary capacity to establish a national Aboriginal biographical register. In 1977, Barwick co-founded ''

Aboriginal History ''Aboriginal History'' is an annual peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal published as an open access journal by Aboriginal History Inc. and ANU Press. It was established in 1977 (co-founded and edited by Diane Barwick) and covers interd ...

'', a journal of dedicated to aboriginal studies. She was an editor of the journal until 1982.Encyclopedia of Australian Science 2010
/ref> In 1980, she became involved in the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, working to ensure some official recognition, and protection, of Aboriginal rights.

Death

On 4 April 1986, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Royal Canberra Hospital. She was buried in Gungahlin Cemetery with Catholic rites.

Research

Barwick's research and writing focused on the traditional and contemporary aspects of aboriginal life, while she campaigned against prejudice and injustice for aboriginal people. She was particularly sensitive to Indigenous peoples' connection to land, and the impact of dispossession; her work stressed the importance of understanding the historical context of colonialism. In 1984, she published the journal article "Mapping the Past: An Atlas of Victorian clans, 1835–1904", which has become a major reference understanding the traditional ownership of Aboriginal land in Victoria. This was to be the start of a larger project, but she died just days short of her 48th birthday having just started the second part of the project.

Legacy

Diane Barwick St, in Canberra, is named in her honour.

Selected bibliography

* ''Outcasts in White Australia'', 1971. * ''Handbook for Aboriginal and Islander History'', Diane Barwick, Michael Mace and Tom Stannage, editors, Aboriginal History, Canberra, 1979. econd edition 1980; third edition 1984* 'Mapping the Past: An Atlas of Victorian Clans 1835-1904', Part 1, ''Aboriginal History'' 1984, 8(2):100–31 *

Posthumously

* ''Rebellion at Coranderrk'' by Diane Barwick. Edited by Laura E. Barwick and Richard E. Barwick. Published by Aboriginal History Incorporated, Canberra, 1998.

References

External links

Diane Elizabeth Barwick's Obituaries by Diane Bell.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barwick, Diane 1938 births 1986 deaths 20th-century Canadian anthropologists 20th-century Australian women 20th-century Canadian women scientists 20th-century Australian anthropologists Australian indigenous rights activists Australian women anthropologists Canadian emigrants to Australia Canadian women anthropologists Scientists from Vancouver Canadian women human rights activists Canadian human rights activists