Synopses & Reviews
This fascinating new addition to the Cultural Survival Studies in Ethnicity and Change series examines the ramifications of a possible treaty signing between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples of Australia before the end of the millennium. Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Dreaming is divided into two parts. Part I traces the history of treaty negotiations in Australia, documenting the tremendous progress towards the recognition of indigenous land and sea rights since the historic victories in the Mabo and Wik High Court cases of 1992 and 1996, and the disastrous turnaround against the recognition of Aboriginal property rights in 1998. Part II examines reconciliation from the viewpoint of indigenous people, the Galiwin'ku, on Elcho Island in northeast Arnhem Land. It delves into complex questions such as how do Elcho islanders, who have traded with and worked for visiting Indonesian fishermen for 200 years prior to the European occupation of Australia, view the present-day treaty debate? The series is edited by David Maybury-Lewis and Theodore Macdonald, Jr., of Cultural Survival, Inc. at Harvard University. The ethnographies focus on key issues affecting indigenous and ethnic groups worldwide, allowing exploration of a particular issue and its impact on a culture. For anyone interested in anthropology and ethnographies.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-144) and index.
Table of Contents
Foreword to the Series.
Preface.
1.The Warramiri, 1920 Onwards.
2.A Divided Nation.
Australia at the Crossroads.
The Beginning and the End of the Reconciliation Process?
Legal Recognition of Aboriginal Human Rights.
Mabo and Reconciliation.
Seeking a “Compact” or “Composition.”
3.Seeking Reconciliation.
What Is Reconciliation?
Convention Debates.
Self-Determination and Reconciliation.
Making a New Start.
4.The Yolngu and Their Dreaming.
Chapter Outlines.
Elcho Islanders and Their Land.
The Dreaming.
Yolngu Social Structure.
Yolngu, Macassans, and Europeans.
Warramiri Mala Identity.
5.Dealing with Outsiders.
Adoption into the Yolngu World.
Official Visitors.
Reconciliation and the Visitor.
The Changing Nature of Interaction.
Aborigines, Macassans, Missionaries, and Politicians.
6.Warramiri Initiatives.
Burrumarra — A Life at Center Stage.
Setting the Scene.
The Adjustment Movement in Arnhem Land.
Flag Treaty Proposal.
The Aboriginal and the Yolngu Flags.
The New Generation.
7.Reconciliation and the Dreaming.
Living the Dream.
A “New” Traditional Perspective on Birrinydji and Walitha' Walitha.
The Mast and Flag.
Membership and Remembership.
Christianity and Self-Determination.
Implementing Marginalization.
The ARDS Report.
Christianity at Galiwin'ku.
Confronting Marginalization.
Aboriginal Self-Determination.
8.Aboriginal Management of the Sea.
Warramiri Sea Dreamings.
Whale Hunters and the Warramiri.
A Proposal for Yolngu Management of the Sea.
The Need for a Strategy.
9.Mining, Marginalization, and the Power of Veto.
The Dilemma of Mining.
The Playing Field.
Aboriginal Responses.
Burrumarra, Macassans, and Mining in North-East Arnhem Land.
Whose Interests Are Being Served?
10.Reconciliation on the World Stage.
International Covenants.
The Yolngu Delegation to Switzerland.
Reuniting with the Macassans.
11.The Road Ahead.
Progress and Regress.
Reconciliation in Arnhem Land.
Glossary.
References.
Index.