Designing and undertaking research for the Single Noongar Claim

Abstract This commentary concerns the design of research undertaken for the Single Noongar Claim in southwestern Western Australia. It draws attention to the benefits that innovative research approaches can bring to native title research generally, and the opportunities that the approach brought to the team of anthropologists working on the Single Noongar Claim specifically. It addresses two key practical challenges the research design sought to overcome. Firstly, how a single anthropologist can generate credible expert opinions about the acknowledgement and observance of traditional laws and customs where the large geographic extent and number of claimants make it impossible for an individual anthropologist to complete sufficient ethnographic research and comply with legal deadlines. And secondly, how less experienced anthropologists can be provided with the ‘real‐world’ training needed to develop their own expertise such that the discipline's capacity to provide expert opinion is sustained. Editor's Note—Native Title Anthropology series: This series contains occasional submissions on topical issues in Native Title Anthropology. Submissions are jointly edited by TAJA and The Centre for Native Title Anthropology (CNTA).