4th January 2008, 11:24 AM
Okay up front I will state that I went to UWA and I work as an archaeological consultant in Western Australia
So...
I cannot allow some of Arthus' comments to go unchallenged
Some of the people I went to Uni with were quiet racist and were only interested in colonial stuff, however many of them now work in Indigenous archaeology, some may have changed their minds some are just doing it for the money
Whoa, what are you basing this on? So you are saying that because somebody studied historical archaeology and not Aboriginal archaeology thus they are racist? I'm sorry that's quite possibly the most ignorant comment I've heard in a long time
Most of the work is walking the route of new mine roads etc looking for lithics and art etc.
It is not rocket science
Nor is it for the unqualified, so please do not make it sound as if anyone who's read a book on archaeology can do it, lithics and art etc does require a certain amount of specialisation.
Many white Australian archaeologists believe that as Australian only they can work with Aboriginal people. In fact this is rubbish, outsiders who wish to learn have just a good chance of geting on with Aboriginal people.
A ludicrous statement, perhaps you have met one or two who believe this, I never have, but many? I work with archaeologists from a number of ethnic backgrounds Chinese, Italian, Irish, Spanish and English. Ethnicity has nothing whatsoever to do with a persons abilities to work with Aboriginal people and I challenge you to put forward some evidence that this belief prevails in archaeology in Western Australia, other than "cos you said so".
But if you are younger enough to get a working holiday visa and act fast you can get a $90000 a year job and then will be able to get citizenship.
Um no, that isn't going to happen, you require more experience in Australian Archaeology than that which you will have when you get off the boat to obtain that sort of salary. I also believe the citizenship application is a tad harder than that.
You also start to go on about how racist Australian society is, hmmm I am not prepared to get into that extremely complictaed discussion with you, it is a multi layered issue and I'm not saying you are entirely wrong in a lot of your points on this, but what is the aim of your post here, to advertise employment opportunities in WA as the title of the thread suggests or to discuss racism. Maybe that is best kept to another thread as I don't think the two issues are THAT related
On that note..........
I'm very surprised that its found surprising that archaeologists might be racist. Have you ever been to WA?
Well I am extremely suprised that this should be the case, as I mentioned I live and work in WA and I have NEVER met a racist archaeologist. I find this incredible, perhaps there are some but I am yet to meet one in the past 7 years.
Don't you think its strange that out of 60 students in my undergad year at UWA only a handful of students were interested in Aboriginal archaeology?
No not at all, the majority of people who study archaeology do not desire a career in this field, only 8 from my class of 80 went on to do honours and of that 8 only 4 currently work in this field, it's actually the norm. I fail to see how this is an example of racism.
And all the white students just love the Romans and Egypt and digging up some crappy colonial farm from the 1930s (colonial bit designed to enrage the easily enraged).
What is wrong with somebody studying these fields and even participating in digging up a "crappy colonial farm"? as you amusingly call it. This comment gave me a chuckle.
Working in the 'justice' [sic] system one knows that shoot to kill still operates in the bush.
Hmmm you're starting to drift a bit now, you make it sound like the wild west, I hope this is meant as an analogy.
For everyone else reading this and interested in working in Australia, yes there is work, no there is not 100's of positions to fill, yes there is a mining boom that is facilitating this work, no it will not last forever. If you are looking for work I suggest you contact some of the consultancy companies before you arrive, keep in mind you will not be earning $90 000.00 a year or even anywhere close to it, you will need a degree in archaeology and be prepared to learn. Wages are based on experience.
http://www.australianarchaeologicalassociation.com.au/ is a good point of contact
So...
I cannot allow some of Arthus' comments to go unchallenged
Some of the people I went to Uni with were quiet racist and were only interested in colonial stuff, however many of them now work in Indigenous archaeology, some may have changed their minds some are just doing it for the money
Whoa, what are you basing this on? So you are saying that because somebody studied historical archaeology and not Aboriginal archaeology thus they are racist? I'm sorry that's quite possibly the most ignorant comment I've heard in a long time
Most of the work is walking the route of new mine roads etc looking for lithics and art etc.
It is not rocket science
Nor is it for the unqualified, so please do not make it sound as if anyone who's read a book on archaeology can do it, lithics and art etc does require a certain amount of specialisation.
Many white Australian archaeologists believe that as Australian only they can work with Aboriginal people. In fact this is rubbish, outsiders who wish to learn have just a good chance of geting on with Aboriginal people.
A ludicrous statement, perhaps you have met one or two who believe this, I never have, but many? I work with archaeologists from a number of ethnic backgrounds Chinese, Italian, Irish, Spanish and English. Ethnicity has nothing whatsoever to do with a persons abilities to work with Aboriginal people and I challenge you to put forward some evidence that this belief prevails in archaeology in Western Australia, other than "cos you said so".
But if you are younger enough to get a working holiday visa and act fast you can get a $90000 a year job and then will be able to get citizenship.
Um no, that isn't going to happen, you require more experience in Australian Archaeology than that which you will have when you get off the boat to obtain that sort of salary. I also believe the citizenship application is a tad harder than that.
You also start to go on about how racist Australian society is, hmmm I am not prepared to get into that extremely complictaed discussion with you, it is a multi layered issue and I'm not saying you are entirely wrong in a lot of your points on this, but what is the aim of your post here, to advertise employment opportunities in WA as the title of the thread suggests or to discuss racism. Maybe that is best kept to another thread as I don't think the two issues are THAT related
On that note..........
I'm very surprised that its found surprising that archaeologists might be racist. Have you ever been to WA?
Well I am extremely suprised that this should be the case, as I mentioned I live and work in WA and I have NEVER met a racist archaeologist. I find this incredible, perhaps there are some but I am yet to meet one in the past 7 years.
Don't you think its strange that out of 60 students in my undergad year at UWA only a handful of students were interested in Aboriginal archaeology?
No not at all, the majority of people who study archaeology do not desire a career in this field, only 8 from my class of 80 went on to do honours and of that 8 only 4 currently work in this field, it's actually the norm. I fail to see how this is an example of racism.
And all the white students just love the Romans and Egypt and digging up some crappy colonial farm from the 1930s (colonial bit designed to enrage the easily enraged).
What is wrong with somebody studying these fields and even participating in digging up a "crappy colonial farm"? as you amusingly call it. This comment gave me a chuckle.
Working in the 'justice' [sic] system one knows that shoot to kill still operates in the bush.
Hmmm you're starting to drift a bit now, you make it sound like the wild west, I hope this is meant as an analogy.
For everyone else reading this and interested in working in Australia, yes there is work, no there is not 100's of positions to fill, yes there is a mining boom that is facilitating this work, no it will not last forever. If you are looking for work I suggest you contact some of the consultancy companies before you arrive, keep in mind you will not be earning $90 000.00 a year or even anywhere close to it, you will need a degree in archaeology and be prepared to learn. Wages are based on experience.
http://www.australianarchaeologicalassociation.com.au/ is a good point of contact