This work delves into the exciting story of one of the oldest continuous civilizations on earth. Beginning with the complexities of early human colonization and continuing through later European resettlement, the history of Australia's native people is told in a wide-ranging and sympathetic fashion. Drawing on research from anthropology, cultural geography, and environmental studies, the intricate and changing ways in which aborigines and white settlers have related to each other is discussed and the origins of aboriginal art, medicine, and music are chronicled.
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page i
Where the Ancestors Walked
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page ii
Dr Philip Clarke started at the South Australian Museum in 1982, after finishing a Science degree majoring in biology at the University of Adelaide. Based in the ethnographic collections, his early work was on Aboriginal use of plants. This eventually broadened out to Indigenous perception and use of the land, leading to a PhD on the Aboriginal cultural geography of the Lower Murray in South Australia. Since this time, Dr Clarke has worked mainly in Central and Northern Australia, investigating Aboriginal links to land. During 1998–2000 he curated the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery Project. Dr Clarke is presently the Head of Anthropology and Manager of Sciences at the Museum.
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page iii
Where the Ancestors Walked Australia as an Aboriginal Landscape
Philip Clarke
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page iv
First published in 2003 Copyright © Philip Clarke 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Clarke, Philip A. Where the ancestors walked : Australia as an Aboriginal landscape. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 1 74114 070 6. 1. Aborigines, Australian. 2. Aborigines, Australian – Religion. 3. Aborigines, Australian – Antiquities. I. Title. 306.0899915 Set in 11/14 pt Caslon Regular by Midland Typesetters, Maryborough, Victoria Printed by South Wind Productions, Singapore 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page v
To Kyle and Cameron
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page vi
Where the Ancestors - pages 3/7/03 10:50 AM Page vii
Contents Preface Acknowledgments Part I
Origins of Aboriginal Australia
viii xiii 1
1 First Human Colonisation 2 Religious Landscapes 3 Social Life
3 15 30
Part II Materials of Culture 4 Hunting and Gathering 5 Aboriginal Artefacts 6 Art of the Dreaming
51 53 68 89
Part III Regional Differences 7 Living in a Varied Land 8 The South 9 The Central Deserts 10 Beyond Capricorn
105 107 117 136 157
Part IV Cultural Change 11 Northern Contacts 12 Arrival of Europeans 13 Aboriginal Aus