Hiatt, Lester Richard (Les) (1931 - 2008)

Summary

Les Hiatt was widely regarded as one of Australia's foremost anthropologists, whose research focussed on Aboriginal traditional life and social organisation, politics, kinship and marriage, ritual, sexuality, myth and symbolism. He worked closely with Aboriginal communities in Australia's north and maintained his connection with them throughout his life. His research challenged and overturned earlier understanding of Aboriginal societies and refuted the notion of patrilineal descent as their primary social organisational principle. Hiatt played a central role in the reform of scholarship on Aboriginal societies, including the establishment of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science. During his presidency of the Institute Hiatt chaired the Committee of Inquiry into the Role of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (1976). Among Hiatt's most significant publications were Kinship and conflict: a study of an Aboriginal community in northern Arnhem Land (1965) and Arguments about Aborigines: Australia and the evolution of anthropology (1996). His 1982 film Waiting for Harry received the Royal Anthropological Institute Film award for the most outstanding film on social, cultural and biological anthropology or archaeology. Throughout his career Hiatt was noted for writing opinion and policy-related articles.

Details

Chronology

1952

Education - Graduated in dentistry, University of Sydney

1955 -

Career position - In practice in Bourke, New South Wales

1957

BA (hons), University of Sydney

1961 - 1991

Career position - Member of Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney

1963

Education - PhD, Australian National University

1967 - 1974

Career position - Joint editor, Mankind

1969

Career position - Visiting Professor, University of Pittsburgh

1974 - 1982

Career position - President, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies

1978 - 1991

Career position - Editor, Oceania

1982

Award - Royal Anthropological Institute Film Award for Waiting for Harry

1984

Career position - President, Section 25, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1990 - 1991

Career position - Chair of Australian Studies, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

• Hamilton, Annette, 'L. R. Hiatt: life, thought and misunderstanding' in Scholar and sceptic: Australian Aboriginal studies in honour of L. R. Hiatt, Merlan, Francesca, Morton, John and Rumsey, Alan, eds (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1997), pp. 1-9. Details
• Hiatt, L. R., 'It seemed an interesting career to follow' in Before it's too late: anthropological reflections, 1950 - 1970, Gray, Geoffrey, ed. (Sydney: Iniversity of Sydney, 2001), pp. 108-16. Details
• Hiatt, L. R.; and Jones, Rhys, 'Aboriginal Conceptions of the Workings of Nature' in Australian Science in the Making, R. W. Home, ed. (Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 1-22. Details
• Meehan, Betty, 'Irreverent recollections of the making of an anthropologist' in Scholar and sceptic: Australian Aboriginal studies in honour of L. R. Hiatt, Merlan, Francesca, Morton, John and Rumsey, Alan, eds (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1997), pp. 11-27. Details
• Mulvaney, John, 'Conflict and the rituals of diplomacy: Les Hiatt and the AIAS' in Scholar and sceptic: Australian Aboriginal studies in honour of L. R. Hiatt, Merlan, Francesca, Morton, John and Rumsey, Alan, eds (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1997). Details

Edited Books

• Hiatt, L. R. ed., Australian Aboriginal mythology: essays in honour of W. E. H. Stanner (Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1975), 213 pp. Details
• Merlan, Francesca, Morton, John and Rumsey, Alan eds, Scholar and sceptic: Australian Aboriginal studies in honour of L. R. Hiatt (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1997), 309 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Hamilton, Annette, 'In memoriam: L. R. Hiatt (1931 - 2008)', Oceania, 78 (2) (2008), 129036. Details
• Hiatt, L., 'Archaeologist who thrived on mateship', ANU Reporter (2001), 2. Details
• Hiatt, L., 'The Rise and Fall of Daisy O'Dwyer', Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2 (2006), 111-115. Details
• Merlan, Francesca, 'Lester Richard Hiatt, 1931 - 2008', Australian Journal of Anthropology, 19 (2) (2008), 233-6. Details