Diane Barwick

Diane Elizabeth McEachern Barwick (29 April 1938 – 4 April 1986) was a Canadian-born anthropologist, historian, and Aboriginal-rights activist. She was also a renowned researcher and teacher in the field of Australian Aboriginal culture and society.

Early life and education Barwick was born on 29 April 1938 in Vancouver, British Columbia, 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.

Barwick attended the University of British Columbia, graduating with honours in 1959. After graduating, she spent a year working at the Provincial Museum of Natural History and Anthropology in Victoria, British Columbia.

In 1960, she moved to Australia, where she undertook a PhD at the Australian National University (ANU) on scholarship, receiving it in 1964.

Career From March 1966 to June 1972, she was a research fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU. She was employed as a tutor and a lecturer at ANU from 1974 to 1978. She was an editor of the journal until 1982.

In 1980, she became involved in the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, working to ensure some official recognition, and protection, of Aboriginal rights.

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. [Second 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.