McHugh, P. G. --- "Anthropology on trial: the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy (1993–2001)" [2017] ELECD 1595; in Nafziger, A.R. James (ed), "Comparative Law and Anthropology" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 45

Book Title: Comparative Law and Anthropology

Editor(s): Nafziger, A.R. James

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955178

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Anthropology on trial: the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy (1993–2001)

Author(s): McHugh, P. G.

Number of pages: 10

Abstract/Description:

This chapter looks at the role of anthropology in the setting of land claims by indigenous peoples against the state regarding the historical processes of loss and, in the modern era, the disruptive programmes of resource development that have adversely affected their relationships with and practices on traditional land. Since the 1980s, national courts in the common law jurisdictions of Canada and Australasia have developed principles by which they monitor and intervene in government recognition and management of these claims. The author gives a controversial and influential example of how the juridification of these claims has shaped presentation of the nature of indigenous evidence and knowledge. The anthropologist’s evidence is usually pitched into a setting where such claims are disputed and their eligibility must fit legal criteria. This puts anthropology – its methods, practice and outcomes – under what can be intense forms of pressure that do not come from within the discipline itself but rather the politicised circumstances into which its expertise is pitched. The Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy remains emblematic of this problematic encounter between anthropology as a discipline and its juridical role in the vindication of land claims.