Athol Kennedy Chase

Athol Kennedy Chase (1936-2020) was an Australian anthropologist and ethnographer who undertook extensive fieldwork in Cape York Peninsula, recording and especially making a cultural record of the traditions, cultural change, and cultural continuities of the Aboriginal Peoples living at Lockhart River, Queensland^[1] including cultural mapping for the Umpila,^[2] Koko Yao,^[3] Wuthathi^[4] and Kaantju.

Athol Kennedy Chase
Anthropologist Athol Chase, May 2017
Born	(1936-04-17)17 April 1936 Rockhampton City, Queensland
Died	November 26, 2020(2020-11-26) (aged 84) Wesley Hospital Brisbane, Queensland
Nationality	Australian
Occupation(s)	Anthropologist and University Lecturer
Years active	1971 to 2020
Known for	Lockhart River Peoples Ethnography, Applied Anthropology, and Recording of Cultural Continuity & Change

Following almost 50 years from first doing fieldwork in Lockhart River, his life's works and contribution to Lockhart River was summarized by Lockhart River community as follows:

When Killoran tried to do the wrong thing, he was there for us; when Farndale tried to build a big resort on Line Hill, he was there for us; when the mining companies tried to make us let them mine at Rocky Point and Wuthathi country, he was there for us; when government wanted to build a spaceport on Kuuku Ya’u country, he was there for us; and when we needed him to stand up for our Native Title with the information our old people gave him, he was there for us. Without his work with our old people, it would have been much harder to get our land back. He has been a warrior for us all.^[5]

References

1. Chase, Athol (1980). Which way now? : tradition, continuity and change in a north Queensland Aboriginal community (PhD). University of Queensland. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
2. Chase, Athol (1979). "Thomson time' (History of the Umpila and Kuuku Ya'u people)". Aboriginal History. 3 (2): 109–110. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
3. Chase, Athol (29 October 1979). "Cultural continuity: land and resources among East Cape York Aborigines". Contemporary Cape York Peninsula; proceedings of a symposium held at Queensland Institute of Technology, 29 October 1979. symposium held at Queensland Institute of Technology, 29 October 1979. Brisbane: Royal Society of Queensland. pp. 83–88.
4. "Another Native Title Win for North Queensland". Westender. Brisbane. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
5. David Clark (1 September 2020). "Thank you Athol". Waanta Newsletter September 2020 pg 7. Lockhart River. Retrieved 24 December 2020.^{[permanent dead link]}