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
2012
Journal Article
Environmentalism, culture, ethnography
Peace, Adrian, Connor, Linda H. and Trigger, David (2012). Environmentalism, culture, ethnography. Oceania, 82 (3), 217-227. doi: 10.1002/j.1834-4461.2012.tb00130.x
2012
Other Outputs
Gaangalu Nation Native Title Claim: application report. Final report (No. QUD400/2012)
de Rijke, Kim, Trigger, David and Sneddon, Andrew (2012). Gaangalu Nation Native Title Claim: application report. Final report (No. QUD400/2012). UniQuest Project No: 238 St Lucia, QLD, Australia: UniQuest.
2012
Other Outputs
Gangalidda and Garawa People #2 (No: QUD66/2005)
Trigger, David (2012). Gangalidda and Garawa People #2 (No: QUD66/2005). UniQuest Project; No: 198 St Lucia, QLD, Australia: UniQuest.
2012
Journal Article
Revelatory moments in fieldwork
Trigger, David, Forsey, Martin and Meurk, Carla (2012). Revelatory moments in fieldwork. Qualitative Research, 12 (5), 513-527. doi: 10.1177/1468794112446049
2012
Conference Publication
Cars, museums, collecting: objects and the nature of heritage
Trigger, David, Babidge, Sally, Oertierra, Anna, Ross, Annie and Hafner, Diane (2012). Cars, museums, collecting: objects and the nature of heritage. Australian Anthropological Society Conference, St Lucia, Qld, Australia, 26-29 September 2012. St Lucia, Qld, Australia: Australian Anthropological Society.
2012
Other Outputs
Interview with David Trigger
Trigger, David (2012). Interview with David Trigger. Goettingen, Germany: Institute for Visual Ethnography (IVE).
2011
Journal Article
Indegeneity in society and nature: the ambiguous case of Brunei
Trigger, David and Wahsalfelah, Siti Norkhalbi binti Haji (2011). Indegeneity in society and nature: the ambiguous case of Brunei. Janang: Jurnal Akademi Pengajian Brunei, 1 (12), 74-90.
2011
Journal Article
Native title research in Australian anthropology
Asche, Wendy and Trigger, David (2011). Native title research in Australian anthropology. Anthropological Forum, 21 (3), 219-232. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2011.617674
2011
Journal Article
Anthropology pure and profane: The politics of applied research in Aboriginal Australia
Trigger, David (2011). Anthropology pure and profane: The politics of applied research in Aboriginal Australia. Anthropological Forum, 21 (3), 233-255. doi: 10.1080/00664677.2011.617675
2011
Other Outputs
WAD 297/208: Harvey Murray v State of Western Australia & Ors-Yilka Native Title Claim
Trigger, David (2011). WAD 297/208: Harvey Murray v State of Western Australia & Ors-Yilka Native Title Claim. St. Lucia, QLD, Australia: School of Social Science, The University of Queensland.
2011
Journal Article
Interventions
Trigger, David (2011). Interventions. Australian Book Review (328), 62-63.
2011
Book Chapter
Whales, whitefellas and the ambiguity of 'nativeness': Reflections on the emplacement of Australian identities
Trigger, David (2011). Whales, whitefellas and the ambiguity of 'nativeness': Reflections on the emplacement of Australian identities. Invasive and introduced plants and animals: Human perceptions, attitudes and approaches to management. (pp. 109-120) edited by Ian D. Rotherham and Robert A Lambert. London, UK: Earthscan. doi: 10.4324/9780203525753
2011
Book Chapter
Anthropology and the resolution of native title claims: Presentation to the Federal Court Judicial Education Forum
Trigger, David (2011). Anthropology and the resolution of native title claims: Presentation to the Federal Court Judicial Education Forum. Unsettling anthropology: The demands of native title on worn concepts and changing lives. (pp. 142-149) edited by Toni Bauman and Gaynor Macdonald. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
2010
Journal Article
Restored nature, familiar culture: Contesting visions for preferred environments in Australian cities
Trigger, David S. and Head, Lesley (2010). Restored nature, familiar culture: Contesting visions for preferred environments in Australian cities. Nature and Culture, 5 (3), 231-250. doi: 10.3167/nc.2010.050302
2010
Journal Article
Berajondo and Mill Point: remembering place and landscape
Ulm, Sean, O'Brien, Susan, Trigger, David and Williams, Michael (2010). Berajondo and Mill Point: remembering place and landscape. Queensland Historical Atlas: Histories, Cultures, Landscapes, 2009-2010.
2010
Journal Article
Christianity, cultural change and the negotiation of rights in land and sea
Trigger, David S. and Asche, Wendy (2010). Christianity, cultural change and the negotiation of rights in land and sea. Australian Journal of Anthropology, 21 (1), 90-109. doi: 10.1111/j.1757-6547.2010.00069.x
2010
Journal Article
Negotiating indigeneity: Culture, identity and politics
Trigger, David S. and Dalley, Cameo (2010). Negotiating indigeneity: Culture, identity and politics. Reviews in Anthropology, 39 (1), 46-65. doi: 10.1080/00938150903548618
2010
Book Chapter
Anthropology and native title: Issues of method, claim group membership and research capacity
Trigger, David (2010). Anthropology and native title: Issues of method, claim group membership and research capacity. Dilemmas in applied native title anthropology in Australia. (pp. 147-159) edited by Toni Bauman. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
2010
Journal Article
Ecological restoration in Australia: Environmental discourses, landscape ideals, and the significance of human agency
Trigger, David S., Toussaint, Yann and Mulcock, Jane (2010). Ecological restoration in Australia: Environmental discourses, landscape ideals, and the significance of human agency. Society & Natural Resources, 23 (11), 1060-1074. doi: 10.1080/08941920903232902
2009
Journal Article
'Sustaining fictions: Challenging the politics of embarrassment', review of 'The politics of suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the liberal consensus' by Peter Sutton.
Trigger, David (2009). 'Sustaining fictions: Challenging the politics of embarrassment', review of 'The politics of suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the liberal consensus' by Peter Sutton.. Australian Book Review, 316, 42-43.
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
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Digital Romance in Precarious Times: Online Dating Cultures of Chinese Rural Migrant Labourers
Principal Advisor
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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
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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
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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
-
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
-
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
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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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