Pacific wonderland : a book of Australia / by Charles Barrett : with a foreword by George H. Brett
- Bib ID:
- 2852439
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Barrett, Charles, 1879-1959
- Description:
-
- Melbourne : Cassell, 1942
- 194 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
- Summary:
-
Includes mention of Dampier's observations on first seeing Aboriginal people, and states Shaw and not Dampier was the first person to change two Latin words 'Terra Australis' to one word as musical as many Aboriginal place names - 'Australia' p. 15-16; talks about Australia being for thousands of years the home of a stone age race doomed perhaps to extinction except for people on mission stations and reserves p. 17; says Arnhem Land is all untamed, Aboriginal territory banned to whitefellows except missionaries, police on patrol and others on government service p. 24; mentions that Groote Eylandt (as well as other islands of the Arafura Sea) being an Aboriginal reserve may not be visited without official sanction, and while the mission has won the Aboriginal peoples' confidence and civilised them many still live in the stone age way, a fact that pleases anthropologists who prefer to study uncivilised man p. 34; states the Wessel Islands have caves used by Aboriginal people as depositories for the skulls and bones of their dead, and caves whose roofs and walls are covered in paintings, also mysterious clusters of stones each a miniature Stonehenge in ruins, and in hollows between the dunes giant human and animal figures have been hand-scooped in the sand p. 35; states the Aboriginal name for Dunk Island is 'Coonanglebah' p. 35; mentions that the Finke River comes through the Gap near Alice Springs, and there herds of goats can be seen, tended by lubras and piccaninnies who dig for water in the dry river bed p. 55; mentions Jay Creek in the Macdonnel Ranges where Aboriginal people camp and a Protector has his headquarters p. 55; provides information about Hermannsburg, a Lutheran mission to the Aboriginal people where thousands of people have benefited by the work of the station including the building of a road from the mission to Palm Valley p. 55-56; mentions Chamber's Pillar and retells the legend of the Dream Time where a great warrior, who had killed many people, because of his wicked ways was turned to stone, and lubras captured by the killer became women of stone - the small turrets of Castle Rock p. 61-62; mentions that Aboriginal hunting for tucker will never make kangaroos and wallabies scarce, and then talks about totems and rock paintings of kangaroos, and ends with the story of Mirram the kangaroo and Warreen the wombat and how the kangaroo got its tail p. 85-86; mentions the legend of the Brolga and of a piccaninny named Bralgah p. 118-119; states that 'Larapinta' is the Arunta tribe's name for the Finke River p. 150; mentions the water holding burrowing frog p. 151; provides general information about the falling numbers of Aboriginal people and where they are located, a history and origins of the Aboriginal people, and their lifestyles and culture p. 177-194; images 'Crocodile Islanders in dugout canoe' facing p. 37, 'Native church, Palm Islands' facing p. 168, 'Peanut farm on Daly River, Northern Territory' facing p. 172, 'Dressed for a corroboree' facing p. 180, 'Mat-making at Milingimbi' and 'Making a boomerang' facing p. 184, 'Disinterment ceremony, Crocodile Islands' facing p. 185.
- Notes:
-
- Index: p. [195-200]
- Library's Whelan copies both have dustjackets; 1st copy has publisher's compliments slip, is signed and inscribed in ink by the author: "Yours sincerely Charles Barrett"; 2nd copy has signed 4p. letter tipped in - from the author to Philip S. Whelan from the author, dated 25th March 1943 at 'Maralena', Maysbury Avenue, Elsternwick, S.4., Victoria
- Subject:
-
- Occupations - Pastoral industry workers - Drovers / Stockmen
- Social organisation - Elders
- Demography - Palaeodemography - Aboriginal settlement of Australia
- Initiation
- Religion - Totemism
- Death - Human remains - Mummies
- Anthropology
- Housing - Shelters
- Recreation - Play - Toys
- Religions - Christianity - Missions
- Recreation - Games - String games and string figures
- Dance - Recreational - Corroboree
- Health - Treatments - Traditional - Clever people
- Demography
- Settlement and contacts - Explorers - Aboriginal guides
- Arrernte / Aranda people (C8) (NT SG53-02)
- Death - Mortuary / funeral ceremonies - Burial
- Religion - Dreaming
- Stories and motifs - Kangaroos / Wallabies
- Religion - Rites - Ceremonial objects - Tjuringa / Churinga
- Government policy - Initial period and protectionism
- Settlement and contacts - Government settlements, reserves
- Culture
- Magic and sorcery - Bone pointing
- Body - Scarification
- Habitation - Nomadism
- Art - Body art
- Art - Painting - Bark
- Law enforcement - Police trackers
- Art - Rock art - Painting
- Music - Instruments - Wind - Didjeridu
- Animals - Mammals - Goats
- Sites - Stone arrangements
- Death - Mortuary / funeral ceremonies - Secondary burial
- Animals - Amphibians - Frogs and toads
- Water supply - Ground water
- Art - Sand and ground design
- Hunting - Kangaroo / Wallaby
- Stories and motifs - Brolga
- Australia -- Pictorial works
- Groote Eylandt (NT Gulf Islands SD53-07, SD53-08)
- Wessel Islands (East Arnhem Land NT SC53-15)
- Queensland (Qld)
- Northern Territory (NT)
- Ntaria / Hermannsburg (South Central NT SF53-13)
- Daly River (NT Top End SD52-08)
- Iwupataka / Jay Creek (South Central NT SF53-14)
- Dunk Island (NE Qld SE55-06)
- Chambers Pillar (South Central NT SG53-02)
- Arafura Sea (SC52, SC53)
- Crocodile Islands (Central Arnhem Land SD53-02, SC53-14)
- Palm Valley (South Central NT SG53-01)
- Australia
- Finke River (South Central NT SF53-13, SG53-01, SG53-06)
- Arnhem Land (NT)
- Milingimbi (Central Arnhem Land NT SD53-02)
- Macdonnell Ranges (South Central NT SF53-13, SF53-14)
- Mparntwe / Alice Springs (South Central NT SF53-14)
- Other authors/contributors:
- Brett, George H
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1942
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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