Marriage Networks, Descent Clusters and Native Title Claims

Paper presented at the “Workshop on Genealogies” organised by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (Canberra), October 5-6 2002.The use of computers to gather and order genealogical material has not only allowed for a more efficient handling of large amounts of data; it has also given rise to new analytical approaches with potential applications. I would like to briefly explore one such approach, the representation and analysis of empirical marriage patterns, with a view to its possible relevance for Native Title land claims by Australian Aboriginal populations