Overview
Background
David Trigger works on the different meanings attributed to land and nature across diverse sectors of society and in different countries. His research encompasses academic studies of how land and sense of place inform the cultural identities of citizens with diverse ancestries. His research is mostly focused on Australian society. In Australian Aboriginal Studies, Professor Trigger has carried out more than 35 years of anthropological study on Indigenous systems of land tenure, including applied research on resource development negotiations and native title claims. In collaboration with colleagues he has in recent years sought understanding of the overlaps and divergences of senses of place among those with Euro-Australian, Asian and Aboriginal ancestries. This work includes projects focused on a comparison of pro-development, environmentalist and Aboriginal perspectives on land and nature. Of particular interest are the issues of ‘nativeness’ and ‘invasiveness’ as understood in both nature and society, with implications for issues of land, cultural identity and environmental management.
Availability
- Emeritus Professor David Trigger is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Land, identity, indigeneity and cultural change
Professor Trigger's interests encompass the relationship between land and cultural identity. His applied research focuses on negotiations over the legacy of colonialism in Australian society.
Research impacts
Professor Trigger is a leading scholar in applied anthropological research on Indigenous land negotiations in Australian society. His impact is made directly through participation as an expert witness and researcher in native title claims, heritage matters and agreement making between Aboriginal groups and other land users. This work involves collaborations with legal practitioners and other professionals in the area of economic development and environmental management. Indirectly the impact of his work is through publishing the results of research and teaching students. He has a large number of research higher degree scholars for whom he provides supervision.
Works
Search Professor David Trigger’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
Land claim legacies, native title, and the rigours of Indigenous politics
Trigger, David S. (2025). Land claim legacies, native title, and the rigours of Indigenous politics. The Australian Journal of Anthropology. doi: 10.1111/taja.70006
2024
Journal Article
Haunting biology: science and indigeneity in Australia
Trigger, David S., Russell, Lynette, Anderson, Warwick and Kowal, Emma (2024). Haunting biology: science and indigeneity in Australia. Australian Journal of Anthropology. doi: 10.1111/taja.12530
2023
Journal Article
Anthropology in Australian Indigenous legal cases: What I've learned from the law and what lawyers have learned from me
Trigger, David S. (2023). Anthropology in Australian Indigenous legal cases: What I've learned from the law and what lawyers have learned from me. Anthropological Forum, 33 (3), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2023.2278402
2023
Journal Article
Trusting the copies? Historical photographs and native title claims
Sassoon, Joanna, Aird, Michael and Trigger, David (2023). Trusting the copies? Historical photographs and native title claims. Archives and Records, 45 (1), 1-21. doi: 10.1080/23257962.2023.2190085
2023
Book Chapter
Cultural expertise and Indigenous people in Australia
Trigger, David S. (2023). Cultural expertise and Indigenous people in Australia. Cultural expertise, law, and rights. (pp. 244-255) edited by Livia Holden. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003167075-26
2022
Journal Article
‘The White-man calls me Jack’: the many names and claims for Jackey Jackey of the lower Logan River, south-east Queensland, Australia
Aird, Michael, Sassoon, Joanna and Trigger, David (2022). ‘The White-man calls me Jack’: the many names and claims for Jackey Jackey of the lower Logan River, south-east Queensland, Australia. Aboriginal History Journal, 45 1, 3-32. doi: 10.22459/ah.45.2021.01
2021
Journal Article
Roger M. KEESING, Custom and Confrontation: The Kwaio Struggle for Cultural Autonomy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, 254 pages, U.S. $49.95 (cloth), $17.95 (paper)
Trigger, David S. (2021). Roger M. KEESING, Custom and Confrontation: The Kwaio Struggle for Cultural Autonomy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, 254 pages, U.S. $49.95 (cloth), $17.95 (paper). Culture, 13 (2), 94-95. doi: 10.7202/1083127ar
2021
Book Chapter
Waanyi Country, North Australia
Trigger, David S. (2021). Waanyi Country, North Australia. Alexis Wright, Carpentaria: the law of the land. (pp. 38-40) edited by Susan Barrett , Estelle Castro-Koshy and Laura Singeot. Paris, France: Belin Éducation/Humensis.
2021
Book Chapter
The state’s stakes at the Century Mine, 1992–2012
Everingham, Jo-Ann, Trigger, David and Keenan, Julia (2021). The state’s stakes at the Century Mine, 1992–2012. The absent presence of the state in large-scale resource extraction projects. (pp. 279-312) edited by Nicholas A. Bainton and Emilia E. Skrzypek. Canberra, ACT Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/ap.2021.09
2021
Journal Article
Obituary: Athol Kennedy Chase (1936‐2020)
Trigger, David (2021). Obituary: Athol Kennedy Chase (1936‐2020). The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 32 (1), 66-70. doi: 10.1111/taja.12386
2020
Journal Article
Distinguished lecture: native title—implications for Australian senses of place and belonging
Trigger, David (2020). Distinguished lecture: native title—implications for Australian senses of place and belonging. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 31 (1), 9-30. doi: 10.1111/taja.12341
2020
Journal Article
From illustration to evidence: historical photographs and Aboriginal native title claims in south-east Queensland, Australia
Aird, Michael, Sassoon, Joanna and Trigger, David (2020). From illustration to evidence: historical photographs and Aboriginal native title claims in south-east Queensland, Australia. Anthropology and Photography, 13, 1-27.
2020
Journal Article
Review of Finding the Heart of the Nation: The journey of the Uluru Statement towards voice, treaty and truth
David Trigger (2020). Review of Finding the Heart of the Nation: The journey of the Uluru Statement towards voice, treaty and truth. Australian Book Review, 418, 12-14.
2020
Book Chapter
Personal challenges and professional research in Aboriginal Australia: reading 'The Politics of Suffering'
Trigger, David (2020). Personal challenges and professional research in Aboriginal Australia: reading 'The Politics of Suffering'. Ethnographer and contrarian: biographical and anthropological essays in honour of Peter Sutton. (pp. 108-119) edited by Julie D. Finlayson and Frances Morphy. Mile End, SA Australia: Wakefield Press.
2018
Journal Article
Aboriginal cultural awareness training for mine employees: Good intentions, complicated outcomes
Parmenter, Joni and Trigger, David (2018). Aboriginal cultural awareness training for mine employees: Good intentions, complicated outcomes. Extractive Industries and Society, 5 (2), 363-370. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2017.12.005
2018
Book Chapter
Ethnographic collections, Indigenous narratives, and post-colonial rights in Australia
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2018). Ethnographic collections, Indigenous narratives, and post-colonial rights in Australia. The social work of narratives: human rights and the cultural imaginary. (pp. 103-120) edited by Gareth Griffiths and Philip Mead. Stuttgart, Germany: ibidem Press.
2018
Journal Article
Ethnographic Collections, Indigenous Narratives, and Post-Colonial Rights in Australia
Martin, Richard J. and Trigger, David (2018). Ethnographic Collections, Indigenous Narratives, and Post-Colonial Rights in Australia. Social Work of Narrative: Human Rights and the Cultural Imaginary, 4, 103-120.
2017
Book Chapter
Chinese history, Indigenous identity and mixed ancestry in Australia's Gulf Country
Trigger, David and Martin, Richard (2017). Chinese history, Indigenous identity and mixed ancestry in Australia's Gulf Country. Mixed race identities in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. (pp. 36-48) edited by Kirsten McGavin and Farida Fozdar. New York, NY United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315559391
2016
Journal Article
Place, indigeneity, and identity in Australia’s Gulf Country
Trigger, David and Martin, Richard J. (2016). Place, indigeneity, and identity in Australia’s Gulf Country. American Anthropologist, 118 (4), 824-837. doi: 10.1111/aman.12681
2016
Other Outputs
Lardil People Traditional Land and Sea Estates and Rights Holders
Gorring, Dee and Trigger, David (2016). Lardil People Traditional Land and Sea Estates and Rights Holders. Brisbane, Australia:
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Emeritus Professor David Trigger is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Completed supervision
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Identity in an Australian Jewish community: an ethnography of public and private Jewish life in South-East Queensland
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter
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2019
Master Philosophy
Culture as a commodity? The cultural dynamics of Indigenous tourism in the Far North East of Queensland, Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Martin
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Digital Romance in Precarious Times: Online Dating Cultures of Chinese Rural Migrant Labourers
Principal Advisor
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Getting the Science Right: Queensland's Coal Seam Gas Development and the Engagement with Knowledge, Uncertainty and Environmental Risks
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kim de Rijke
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
What's in a label: Social factors and health issues for a small group of Aboriginal people born in Brisbane, Australia
Principal Advisor
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2015
Master Philosophy
Negotiating Aboriginal Culture in the Australian Mining Industry: A Case Study of Cultural Awareness Training.
Principal Advisor
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Mi Llajta (My Place): Identity, Belonging and Contested Space in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Freedom to choose: responding to change in a mobile environment among Aboriginal People of Lockhart River, Cape York Peninsula, Australia
Principal Advisor
-
2013
Doctor Philosophy
Nature, Environmental Contests and the Politics of Indigeneity in Chile's Northern Patagonia
Principal Advisor
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Water, Place and Community: An Ethnography of Environmental Engagement, Emplaced Identity and the Traveston Crossing Dam Dispute in Queensland, Australia
Principal Advisor
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2012
Master Philosophy
Guwar, the language of Moreton Island, and its relationship to the Bandjalang and Yagara subgroups: a case for phylogenetic migratory expansion?
Principal Advisor
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Loving Nature, Killing Nature, and the Crises of Caring: An anthropological investigation of conflicts affecting feral pig management in Queensland, Australia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge
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2010
Master Philosophy
Niue inside out: The cultural effects of migration in Polynesia
Principal Advisor
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2008
Doctor Philosophy
Losing Hegemony: The English in Australia, a people in transition
Principal Advisor
-
2019
Doctor Philosophy
A political ecology study of forest wilderness in the Olympic Peninsula (USA) and Tasmania (Australia).
Joint Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Richard Martin, Emeritus Professor Ian Lilley
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
"Lamalama way": The Corporatisation of Indigenous Landholders in Cape York Peninsula, Australia.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kim de Rijke
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Interconnected practices and household improvisation: a multi-sited ethnography of meat consumption routines in urban Australia and Indonesia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jenny Munro
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2012
Doctor Philosophy
Social relations and layered identities in a remote Aboriginal town, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Paul Memmott, Emeritus Professor Ian Lilley
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Risk and Power: Dengue and Its Prevention and Control in Urban Cambodia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Patricia Short
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2009
Doctor Philosophy
Making a Mark: negotiations in the commoditisation of authenticity and value at an Aboriginal art dealership
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sally Babidge
Media
Enquiries
Contact Emeritus Professor David Trigger directly for media enquiries about:
- Anthropology
- Australian Indigenous Studies
- Environmental anthropology
- Land use negotiations
- Native Title
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