Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses a range of conceptual 'footprints'left by Nic Peterson's work. Among them are his critique of Levi-Strauss, his research on the domestic cycle and composition of domestic groups, and his writings on capitalism, change and land rights.

Paper long abstract:

I came to Australian anthropology as a practitioner schooled in a Geertzian interpretive method tempered by my own brand of critical anthropology. My first engagement with Australianists was at Sydney and I found them, forgive me, rather foreign. Nonetheless, I determined to pursue field research in Central Australia. This course led me into a new intellectual world in which I picked by route according to concepts and arguments I found engaging. Fred Myers, Nancy Munn, TGH Strehlow and Les Hiatt were important. So was Annette Hamilton's work. Nicolas Peterson, however, engaged me with many ideas spread across a range of ethnographic interests. In this paper I discuss five of these 'footprints,' and sketch how each one influenced by own work. These insights range from Nic's critique of Levi-Strauss through issues domestic groups, capitalism, change and land rights.