In

this innovative collection, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars

from Australia and Europe reflect on how their life histories have

impacted on their research in Indigenous Australian

Studies. Drawing on Pierre Nora’s concept of ego-histoire as an

analytical tool to ask historians to apply their methods to themselves,

contributors lay open their paths, personal commitments and

passion involved in their research. Why are we researching in Indigenous

Studies, what has driven our motivations? How have our biographical

experiences influenced our research? And how has our research influenced

us in our political and individual understanding as scholars and human

beings? This collection tries to answer many of these complex questions,

seeing them not as merely personal issues but highly relevant to the

practice of Indigenous Studies.

I think this rich collection will become a landmark

text and a favourite within Australian scholarship. I am keen to see it

published so that I can recommend it to others -

Professor Emerita Margaret Allen, Gender Studies and Social Analysis,

University of Adelaide

The idea was to explain the link between the

history you have made and the history that has made you - Pierre Nora