Emily Poelina-Hunter

Emily is an Aboriginal (Nyikina) academic and Lecturer in the Aboriginal Studies program at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

In 2019 she graduated with a PhD in archaeology at The University of Melbourne, on prehistoric tattooing and anthropomorphic art in Early Cycladic culture (ca. 3200-2000 BCE).

During her PhD candidature at The University of Melbourne, Emily was awarded several significant scholarships for her archaeological fieldwork, which took her to Israel, the Republic of Georgia, Turkey, Greece, and in particular, the Cycladic Islands. She also chaired the university's Indigenous Graduate Students Association in 2014, and undertook a Faculty of Arts Indigenous Cadetship working in the university's Research Unit for Indigenous Language in 2014-2015.

Her 2007 work on Birr Nganka Nyikina (an encyclopedic Nyikina-English dictionary completed in 2014) was a life changing 'on country' community project. This cultural work and associated research informed one of the three case studies in her Masters thesis, Talkin' Bout a Revolution: Cultural effects on the transition from oral to written literature.

Emily's move from prehistoric Greek archaeology into Australian Indigenous Studies is the culmination of integrating Aboriginal knowledge, content and methodologies in her various research work, and her Indigenous community engagement over the years.

Research interests: Early Cycladic archaeology, anthropomorphism in prehistoric art, archaeology of tattooing, history of tattooing, contemporary attitudes toward tattooing, female tattooing, body modification and identity, Indigeneity and identity (especially the Australian three-part test for Indigeneity), gender studies, feminist studies, Indigenous policy in Australia, cultural safety.

Current teaching: Politics of Indigenous Australia and Decolonising Aboriginal Studies at La Trobe University.

Current research project: Ngayoo Wiliyanoo: I am the Freshwater Mussel; investigates how freshwater mussels are used by Aboriginal Nyikina people. When I say ‘used’ I mean: a) how and why they were harvested, cooked, and eaten; b) how and why the shells were used in cultural identity making – through using them as adornments (e.g. by piercing the shells and stringing them into necklaces), and if the shells were used as tools for body modification like hair-cutting, shaving, scarification, piercing, or blood-letting for medicinal and ceremonial reasons; and c) how and why the shells were used to process animal skins and vegetation. By reviewing the existing literature on the archaeological findings of freshwater mussel use in other Aboriginal communities in Australia, I hope to create a methodology for applying similar techniques to wiliyanoo research in Nyikina country in the Kimberley, Western Australia.

Qualifications: 2019, PhD (Archaeology); 2014, Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research and Leadership; 2009, Graduate Diploma of Art (Greek major); 2008 - 2009, Masters of Arts in Classical Studies; 2005 - 2007, BA(Hons) in Classical Studies (First class honours).