Items related to A World That Was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and...
A World That Was: The Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia (Miegunyah Press Series) - Hardcover
This extraordinary book, written from material gathered over half a century ago, will almost certainly be the last fine-grained account of traditional Aboriginal life in settled south-eastern Australia. It recreates the world of the Yaraldi group of the Kukabrak or Narrinyeri people of the Lower Murray and Lakes region of South Australia.
In 1939 Albert Karloan, a Yaraldi man, urged a young ethnologist, Ronald Berndt, to set up camp at Murray Bridge and to record the story of his people. Karloan and Pinkie Mack, a Yaraldi woman, possessed through personal experience, not merely through hearsay, an all but complete knowledge of traditional life. They were virtually the last custodians of that knowledge and they felt the burden of their unique situation. This book represents their concerted efforts to pass on the story to future generations.
For Ronald and Catherine Berndt, this was their first fieldwork together in an illustrious joint career of almost fifty years. During long periods, principally until 1943, they laboured with pencil and paper to put it all down - a far cry from the recording techniques of today's oral historians. Their fieldnotes were worked into a rough draft of what would become, but not until recently, the finished manuscript.
The book's range is encyclopaedic and engrossing - sometimes dramatic. It encompasses relations between and among individuals and clan groups, land tenure, kinship, the subsistence economy, trade, ceremony, councils, fighting and warfare, rites of passage from conception to death, myths, and beliefs and practices concerning healing and the supernatural. Not least, it is a record of the dramatic changes following European colonization.
A World That Was is a unique contribution to Australia's cultural history. There is simply no comparable body of work, nor is there ever likely to be.
In 1939 Albert Karloan, a Yaraldi man, urged a young ethnologist, Ronald Berndt, to set up camp at Murray Bridge and to record the story of his people. Karloan and Pinkie Mack, a Yaraldi woman, possessed through personal experience, not merely through hearsay, an all but complete knowledge of traditional life. They were virtually the last custodians of that knowledge and they felt the burden of their unique situation. This book represents their concerted efforts to pass on the story to future generations.
For Ronald and Catherine Berndt, this was their first fieldwork together in an illustrious joint career of almost fifty years. During long periods, principally until 1943, they laboured with pencil and paper to put it all down - a far cry from the recording techniques of today's oral historians. Their fieldnotes were worked into a rough draft of what would become, but not until recently, the finished manuscript.
The book's range is encyclopaedic and engrossing - sometimes dramatic. It encompasses relations between and among individuals and clan groups, land tenure, kinship, the subsistence economy, trade, ceremony, councils, fighting and warfare, rites of passage from conception to death, myths, and beliefs and practices concerning healing and the supernatural. Not least, it is a record of the dramatic changes following European colonization.
A World That Was is a unique contribution to Australia's cultural history. There is simply no comparable body of work, nor is there ever likely to be.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Ronald Berndt was the foundation Professor of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia.
Review:
This extraordinary book, written from material gathered over half a century ago, will almost certainly be the last fine-grained account of traditional Aboriginal life in settled south-eastern Australia. It recreates the world of the Yaraldi group of the Kukabrak or Narrinyeri people of the Lower Murray and Lakes region of South Australia.
In 1939 Albert Karloan, a Yaraldi man, urged Ronald Berndt to record the story of his people. Karloan and Pinkie Mack, a Yaraldi woman, possessed through personal experience, not merely through hearsay, an all but complete knowledge of traditional life. They were virtually the last custodians of that knowledge and they felt the burden of their unique situation. This book represents their concerted efforts to pass on their story to future generations.
A World That Was encompasses relations between and among individuals and clan groups, land tenure, kinship, the subsistence economy, trade, ceremony, councils, fighting and warfare, rites of passage from conception to death, myths and beliefs and practices concerning healing and the supernatural. Not least, it is a record of the dramatic changes following European colonization.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherUniv of British Columbia Pr
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 0774804785
- ISBN 13 9780774804783
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages624
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
A World That Was, the Yaraldi of the Murray River and the Lakes, South Australia
Published by
UBC University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver
(1993)
ISBN 10: 0774804785
ISBN 13: 9780774804783
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Cloth. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. Miegunah Press Series #11. blue boards, unclipped dj w/ Murray River ceremony illus, all exc, unread, bright pristine copy; 36 b/w txt fig, 10 b/w maps, 45 b/w photos on plates, appendices, 624 pp. results of the Berndt's joint fieldwork done principally 1939-1943, 'encyclopedic, engrossing, sometimes dramatic' Size: 7.5"-10". Seller Inventory # RB3824
Buy Used
US$ 730.00
Convert currency