The extraordinary collection of letters has remained unpublished for nearly a century. It sheds vivid light on race relations, social conditions and Aboriginal culture in Central Australia, It also documents a crucial and poorly understood period in the history of anthropology. The book makes an invaluable contribution to the understanding of central Australian Aboriginal society, and to current debates concerning land rights.
This book contains sensitive material. It is not available for viewing without prior permission of the current head of the Indigenous Cultures Department.
The highly popular AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia is now available in a compact, portable A3 size. Available flat or folded (packaged in a handy cellophane bag ) it s the perfect take-home product for tourists and anyone interested in the diversity of our first nations peoples. The handy desk size also makes it an ideal resource for individual student use. For tens of thousands of years, the First Australians have occupied this continent as many different nations with diverse cultural relationships linking them to their own particular lands. The ancestral creative beings left languages on country, along with the first peoples and their cultures. More than 200 distinct languages, and countless dialects of them, were in use when European colonization began. While people in some communities continue to speak their own languages, many others are seeking to record and revive threatened ones. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples retain their connection to their traditional lands regardless of where they live. Using published resources available from 1988-1994, the map represents the remarkable diversity of language or nation groups of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. The map was produced before native title legislation and is not suitable for use in native title or other land claims."
This detailed ethnographic study explores the intercultural crafting of contemporary forms of Aboriginal manhood in the world of country, rock and reggae music making in Central Australia. Focusing on four different musical contexts – an Aboriginal recording studio, remote Aboriginal settlements, small non-indigenous towns, and tours beyond the musicians’ homeland – the author challenges existing scholarly, political and popular understandings of Australian Aboriginal music, men, and related indigenous matters in terms of radical social, cultural and racial difference. Based on extensive anthropological field research among Aboriginal rock, country and reggae musicians in small towns and remote desert settlements in Central Australia, the book investigates how Aboriginal musicians experience and articulate various aspects of their male and indigenous sense of selves as they make music and engage with indigenous and non-indigenous people, practices, places, and sets of values.Making Aboriginal Men and Music is a highly original, intimate study which advances our understanding of contemporary indigenous and male identity formation within Aboriginal Australian society. Providing new analytical insights for scholars and students in fields such as social and cultural anthropology, cultural studies, popular music, and gender studies, this engaging text makes a significant contribution to the study of indigenous identity formation in remote Australia and beyond.
In 'The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead' by James George Frazer, the renowned anthropologist explores the universal belief in an afterlife and the rituals associated with honoring deceased ancestors. Written in a scholarly and comprehensive style, Frazer delves into various cultures, traditions, and historical practices to examine the continuity and evolution of beliefs surrounding death. Drawing on a wide range of ethnographic data, this book provides a profound insight into the human psyche and the ways in which different societies navigate the concept of mortality. Frazer's meticulous research and comparative analysis offer valuable perspectives on the significance of ancestor worship in shaping cultural identities and religious practices. Through his interdisciplinary approach, Frazer sheds light on the complexities of human spirituality and the enduring relevance of ancestral veneration in contemporary societies. Readers interested in anthropology, religious studies, and the history of belief systems will find this book enlightening and thought-provoking.
