A sense of making history: Australian Aboriginal Studies 1961-1985

Having served on Council for all but two years since its foundation, Professor Mulvaney's Wentworth Lecture is framed by the foundation and evolution of AIATSIS.

In it, he reflects upon the Institute, its achievements and its critics over its first quarter century. This is followed by some consideration of archaeology, its achievements and some of its problems, including issues surrounding the perceived 'ownership' of Australian Indigenous history, and the sensitivities involved in Australian archaeology.