Diane Elizabeth McEachern Barwick (29 April 1938 – 4 April 1986) was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) 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 ...
-born
anthropologist,
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 race; as well as the st ...
, and Aboriginal-rights
activist. She was also a renowned researcher and teacher in the field of Australian Aboriginal culture and society.
Biography
Barwick was born on 29 April 1938 in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, 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](_blank)
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Barwick attended the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
, 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](_blank)
Australian Women's Archives Project 2014
It 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 Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...
.
In 1960, she moved to Australia, where she undertook a PhD at the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
(ANU) on scholarship, receiving it in 1964.
On 14 April 1961, she married Richard Essex Barwick, a fellow PhD student.
In 1964, she became a founding member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS). From March 1966 to June 1972, she was a research fellow in the department of anthropology and sociology, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU. 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 councilor for the institute's history committee; between 1983 and 1986, she had chaired the executive publications committee.
In 1973, she had her first child, Laura Eden Barwick.
She undertook research and teaching at the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Barwick, between 1974 and 1978, was employed as a tutor and a lecturer at ANU.
In 1977, Barwick was a co-founder and editor of ''Aboriginal History
''Aboriginal History'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal published as an open access journal by Aboriginal History Inc. It was established in 1977 (co-founded and edited by Diane Barwick) and covers interdisciplinary historical studies ...
'', the journal of the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Research School of Social Science, ANU. She retained the position until 1982.[Encyclopedia of Australian Science 2010](_blank)
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In 1979, she was a temporary research fellow in the department of history, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU for a year.
In 1980, she became involved in the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, working to ensure some official recognition, and protection, of Aboriginal rights.
In May 1985, she was appointed by the AIAS in an honorary capacity to establish a national Aboriginal biographical register.
On 4 April 1986, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 (a year after the planned city was opened) on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in ...
. She was buried in Gungahlin cemetery with Catholic rites.
Research
Barwick's research and writing focussed 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 forty-eighth 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 women scientists
Australian anthropologists
Australian women scientists
Canadian anthropologists
Canadian women anthropologists
Canadian emigrants to Australia
Scientists from Vancouver
Australian women anthropologists
Australian indigenous rights activists
Women human rights activists
20th-century Australian women
20th-century anthropologists