Kelly Ann Blake
Current position
Adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe University and Biocultural (Returning Spirit) Officer at Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Where did you study?
La Trobe University
How did you become interested in archaeology?
Indiana Jones!!! lol No, I believe my ancestors guided me to explore archaeology so I could do work to protect our Cultural heritage and create change to help decolonize archaeological research and practice in related to Indigenous Archaeology in Australia.
What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
Research in relation to Lakorra Murrkal Dja (Dark Sky Country), Intangible Cultural Heritage / oral traditions and tangible cultural heritage, i.e. memory places such as stone circles arrangements associated with Dark Sky Country.
Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries
False teeth in an historical archaeological job site in Ballarat. Jo Wilson would remember this one!
Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology
Whilst in the field I was being hurried by my teenage son who was working alongside me as a field rep and I dropped my phone in the portable Dunny! A very brave and compassionate site supervisor and senior Archaeologist, John Young (aka Doppelganger of Jack Black) managed to scoop it out of the soup of poop! He certainly set the bar when it came to going above and beyond in order to get the job done!!!
What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
Reawakening Traditional Cultural Knowledges in relation to Animal Connections within Archaeology. Walking in two worlds and bridging Traditional Ecological Knowledges with Western Science within Archaeological research and practices.
Follow up reading
Garvey, J. and K.A. Blake. 2024. ‘Koling wada ngal (let’s walk together): Reimagining Australian archaeology through the weaving together of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and academic colonialism’. Australian Archaeology 90(1): 36-38.
Blake, K.A. and D. Jones, D. 2024. ‘Darrwal [Dingo] in Australia’s First Nations Peoples Cultures: Indigenous Archaeological Perspectives’, in Rai, N. (ed.) Indigenous Archaeologies. The Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 39(2).
Blake, K.A. and D.S. Jones. 2023. ‘Barrat-car-loon ngarrwabil-nhuk burdu’auan Darrwal baap Kaal: Reawakening sleeping Traditional Knowledge of the dingo [Darrwal/Kaal]’. This paper was included in the 13th issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium held at La Trobe University on 2 February 2024.
Waldron, D., K.A. Blake & S. Mennen. 2023. ‘In the 1800’s, colonial settlers moved to Ballarat’s Yarrowee River. The impacts are still felt today’. The Conversation, November 3. Available at: https://theconversation.com/in-the-1800s-colonial-settlers-moved-ballarats-yarrowee-river-the-impacts-are-still-felt-today-214949
Blake, K.A. 2022. ‘Reflections on Western Archaeology Training from a First Nation’s Perspective: Whose Knowledge and Whose Methods?’, in C Kutay, E Leigh, JK Prpic and L Ormond-Parker (eds.), Indigenous Engineering for an Enduring Culture, 259-271. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.