Indigenous Diplomacy and Sovereignty

please direct all inquiries to the course coordinator: James Blackwell James.Blackwell@anu.edu.au The aim of this course is to showcase the sovereign diplomatic practices of First Nations peoples in Australia, and Indigenous peoples’ engagement with foreign policy and the international system; giving students an understanding of this, alongside contemporary issues for First Nations diplomacy and sovereignty, and allowing them to understand and evaluate these practices within international relations. Part One of this course provides an introduction to concepts relating to Indigeneity and international relations, including Indigeneity, sovereignty, nationhood, relationality, agency, and power. It will also explore Indigenous values and worldviews across the Australian continent, and how Indigenous peoples experience and live in their cosmologies. Part Two of the course looks at Indigenous diplomacy, inter-polity relations, and diplomatic practices around the Australian continent, with a key focus on certain regions and peoples. It will look how Indigenous peoples conceive of the idea of diplomacy, examples of diplomatic practice, and the connection between culture, law, sovereignty, and diplomacy, and how . There will be an optional workshop during this period where elders from various nations will be in attendance in Canberra, where students can learn, participate, and ask questions. Part Three of the course focuses on contemporary issues in Indigenous sovereignty and diplomacy. It will delve into struggles over diplomatic standing and presence in the international system, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, efforts to achieve sovereignty and assert rights, efforts by states to undertake Indigenous diplomacy, and the 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum.