Dr Diana James
Areas of expertise
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Cultural Studies 200201
- Comparative And Cross Cultural Education 130302
- Tourism 1506
- Performing Arts And Creative Writing 1904
- Visual Arts And Crafts 1905
Research interests
Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge.
Visual anthropology.
Performance and visual arts.
Western Desert language, oral song cycles, storytelling and music.
Cross-cultural translation of philosophy, metaphors and meaning.
Biography
Diana is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Research School for Humanities and The Arts at ANU. Recently the Senior Research Associate and Project Coordinator of the ARC Linkage Project Songlines of the Western Desert. A collaborative project with the elders, artists, dancers and singers of the APY, Ngaanyatjarra and Martu Lands of the Western Desert. It brings together Indigenous knowledge holders with researchers in the arts, humanities and ecological sciences in a collaborative investigation of Songlines.Diana has worked as an anthropologist and bilingual interpreter in the Western Desert over the last forty years engaged in community research projects in the arts, education, governance, economic enterprise and Indigenous tourism development.
Researcher's projects
Alive with the Dreaming! Songlines of the Western Desert ARC Linkage Project.
The aim of the Songlines research project was to explore the interrelated strands of Indigenous knowledge within and transmitted through ‘open’ (non-restricted) teachings of Tjukurpa law and culture of the Western Desert. Tjukurpa has been orally transmitted over thousands of years through the mnemonic device of long song sagas that in chapter and verse recount the acts of the Creation Ancestors forming the land, law, language and kinship relationships that connect Indigenous peoples over vast stretches of the deserts of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. The Ngaanyatjarra Lands comprising a vast area of Western Australia (250,000 km2) adjoining the Northern Territory and the South Australian lands of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara people (100,000 km2) are the key research region for the Wati Ngintaka and Seven Sister’s Tjukurpa Songlines.
Publications
- James, D 2015, 'Tjukurpa Time', in Ann McGrath and Mary Anne Jebb (ed.), Long History, Deep Time: Deepening Histories of Place, ANU Press, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, pp. 33-46.
- James, D & Tregenza, E, eds, 2014, Ngintaka, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia.
- James, D & Williamson, I 2014, 'Inma Ngintaka: song and story of the perentie lizard man', in Diana James, Elizabeth Tregenza (ed.), Ngintaka, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia, pp. 26-77.
- James, D 2014, 'Ngintaka Ngura Walytja: Nganyinytja's Country of Her Spirit', in Diana James, Elizabeth Tregenza (ed.), Ngintaka, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, South Australia, pp. 14-23.
- James, D & Tregenza, J (eds) 2014, Ngintaka, Wakefield Press, Adelaide.
- James, D 2013, 'Signposted by song: cultural routes of the Australian desert', Historic Environment, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 30-42.
- James, D 2013, 'Inside: Life in children's homes and institutions', reCollections: Journal of the National Museum of Australia, vol. 8, no. 1.
- James, D 2013, (DVD) Kungkarangkalpa: Seven Sisters Songline: traditional Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Inma, dance, song and story performance at National Museum of Australia 1st and 2nd March 2013.
- James, D & Macdonald, C 2011, (DVD) Living In The Desert: Welcome to Putijarra country.
- James, D 2010, 'Colour comes up from the ground', in Matt Ward & Jim Bell (ed.), Tjukurpa - Law, Outstation, Australia, pp. 1-2.
- James, D 2010, 'Kaltjiti Arts and Crafts', in Elizabeth Tregenza (ed.), Tjukurpa Pulkatjara: The Power of the Law, Wakefield Press, Australia, pp. 76-80.
- Blair, S & James, D 2010, 'The Indigenous Heritage of Australia Pastoral Frontier: Identifying and Managing the Social Values of Stock Routes and Remote Stations', Outback & Beyond: The Future of Historic Towns, Industrial Heritage and Pastoralism, Australia ICOMOS, DVD.
- James, D 2009, Painting the Song: Kaltjiti artists of the Sand Dune Country, McCulloch & McCulloch, Melbourne Australia.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Songlines Project - cultural heritage significance of waterholes along songlines (Primary Investigator)
- Alive with the Dreaming! Songlines of the Western Desert (Secondary Investigator)