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1
Fantin, Shaneen Rae. "Housing Aboriginal culture in North-East Arnhem Land /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2003. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe17564.pdf.
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Hamby, M. Louise. "Containers of power : fibre forms from Northeast Arnhem Land Australia." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/10856.
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This thesis is a study of fibre container forms primarily made by women today in
Arnhem Land. It investigates a complex set of relationships between the forms,
mainly baskets, bags and mats, their makers and users, their functions, their
morphology, their manufacture, and history. It does this within the cultural context
of Yolηu cosmology with emphasis on the belief system and relationship of the
forms to other items of material culture. Although the majority of the contemporary
material for this study is from Gapuwiyak in eastern Arnhem Land it draws upon
work from the entirety of Arnhem Land, historical and contemporary. My theoretical
approach is one in which I consider these objects as having cultural biographies.
It also examines the resonances of terminology and symbolism between the human
and bathi corpus. In this context the processes that are involved in their making
and use are essential in establishing the position of bathi in the community. In this
thesis I argue that bathi are powerful and meaningful objects for makers and users
and are one of the key means by which to access and understand Aboriginal
cosmology from northeast Arnhem Land.
3
Carroll, Peter J. "The old people told us: verbal art in Western Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, University of Queensland, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/268560.
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AIM
This thesis is based on a collection of stories (most of which relate to bark paintings), that were told to me by speakers of the Kunwinjku language of the Northern Territory of Australia. My objective is to show that these particular stories have an important role in the transmission of Kunwinjku culture. I do this by seeking to understand the stories and how they are used by Kunwinjku people. I first consider the stories in the original
Kunwinjku language; secondly I relate the stories to the western Arnhem Land artistic traditions; and thirdly I examine their social context. The important role of such stories in cultural transmission is reflected in the phrases daborrabolk kandimarneyolyolmeng "the old people told us stories" and kandimarneyolyolmi "they used to tell us stories" which occur in many stories. I have included one of these phrases as part of my thesis title.
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Dewar, Mickey. "Strange bedfellows : Europeans and Aborigines in Arnhem land before World War II." Master's thesis, University of New England, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/274469.
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I first arrived in Arnhem Land in November 1980 as a trainee teacher determined to seek adventure having recently finished a BA (Hons) degree in History at Melbourne. I returned in January of the following year to take up a position as teacher to post-primary girls at Milingiinbi Bilingual School.
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Amery, Rob. "A new diglossia : contemporary speech varieties at Yirrkala in North East Arnhem land." Thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/132957.
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This subthesis is concerned with one aspect of the
sociolinguistic situation at Yirrkala in N.E. Arnhem Land. In particular I
shall be looking at the role and structure of a contemporary dialect of
Yolngu Matha, Dhuwaya or so called "Baby Gumatj" in relation to
other clan dialects.
The main purpose of choosing this thesis topic is to lay some
linguistic groundwork for the making of an informed decision in regard
to the use of Dhuwaya within the bilingual program at Yirrkala
Community School. If it is decided to employ Dhuwaya in the earlier
grades (which appears to be the case), then guidelines are needed to
determine which Dhuwaya forms should be employed. Adult language
should be employed to serve as a model. Thus criteria are presented for
choosing adult forms in preference to developmental forms. By
undertaking research into Dhuwaya, I am not trying to encourage the
use of Dhuwaya in any way. On the contrary, by establishing the ways in
which Dhuwaya differs from clan languages and by making these
differences explicit, any formal language programs undertaken in the
school or in the community in the future may utilize these findings.
This then would facilitate clan language acquisition by the younger
generation. I use the title R New Diglossio in two senses :
a) Yirrkala is a diglossic situation not previously described and is a
departure from the diglossia originally defined by Ferguson (1959).
b) The diglossic situation at Yirrkala appears to have been a recent
development and is in fact s till in the making. In this sense it is a new
diglossia chronologically. See Section 4.4 for explication.
This study is by necessity a somewhat cursory overview. As a
Balanda (white Australian) without having previous exposure to Top End
Northern Territory communities or to Aboriginal languages of N.E.
Arnhem Land3, data collection and transcription proved extremely
difficult. This was especially the case because Dhuwaya is a highly
stigmatized language variety at Yirrkala. This preliminary study points
to the need for an in-depth longitudinal sociolinguistic study. Such a
study should prove valuable in understanding issues of language
maintenance within the bilingual program at Yirrkala Community School
and for educational policies in the isolated homeland centres. Brief chapter summaries are as follows:
CHAPTER 1 provides background material including: a) historical, b)
sociological and c) linguistic, relevant to the study of Dhuwaya and its
sociolinguistic context. Methodology and approach is outlined in 1.6.
There are three varieties, Baby Dhuwaya, Deuelopmental Dhuwaya
and Rdult Dhuwaya, all subsumed by the labels Dhuwaya or “Baby
Gumatj" in common usage. These three varieties have separate
identifiable phonological and morphological features.
CHAPTER 2 outlines and discusses phonological features of Dhuwaya
and makes comparisons between Baby Dhuwaya, Developmental Dhuwaya
and Adult Dhuwaya phonology. CHAPTER 3 discusses morphological features of Adult Dhuwaya
relative to a) clan dialects and b) Developmental Dhuwaya. Dhuwaya is
characterized by specific morphological rules applying to dialect
sensitive morphemes; rules which take into account the dialect
differences between Dhuwal and Dhuwala dialects.
CHAPTER 4 discusses the differences between the three varieties of
Dhuwaya and the rationale for differentiating between them. Baby
Dhuwaya is a restricted register demonstrating universal
characteristics of Baby Talk registers whilst Developmental Dhuwaya
is a maturational or child language variety illustrating features
typical of developmental varieties universally. Although Developmental
Dhuwaya as spoken by very young children shares many features in
common with Baby Dhuwaya, there are s till important differences
remaining. Adult Dhuwaya functions as a communilect or common
language for the younger generation, but belongs specifically to
Yirrkala and its homelands. The Yirrkala situation is quite different to
other Yolngu communities in N.E. Arnhem Land (e.g. Galiwin’ku where a
clan language Djambarrpuyngu has become the communilect.) At
Yirrkala Dhuwaya functions as the L (Low) variety in a diglossic
situation, where multilingualism is the norm.
CHAPTER 5 summarizes the linguistic findings and in the light of
these and other sociolinguistic evidence discusses various theories on
the origin of Dhuwaya. It differs from other Yolngu Matha dialects in
much the same way linguistically as these dialects differ from each
other. I conclude that the most likely theory is that Dhuwaya has
developed by means of koineization of Eastern Dhuwala/Dhuwal Baby
Talk or ‘motherese' and developmental varieties. Dhuwaya is
structurally and functionally an almost prototypical koine language
variety. The implications for sociolinguistic theory, of this unique
diglossic situation in North East Arnhem Land, are discussed briefly. CHAPTER 6 discusses the implications of these findings for the future
in terms of a) language maintenance and b) the Yirrkala Community
School bilingual education program. I conclude that the linguistic
differences between Dhuwaya and other Dhuwala/Dhuwal dialects are
really quite minimal. Should the community agree to the use of
Dhuwaya in the earlier grades in the school, I am suggesting specific
recommendations as to the variety of Dhuwaya to be employed. Adult
Dhuwaya forms are better employed and I present criteria for
differentiating adult forms from developmental and Baby Talk forms.
Several sample texts, chosen for their exemplification of
different varieties of Dhuwaya, are included in an appendix.
6
Tamisari, Franca. "Body, names and movement : images of identity among the Yolnu of North-east Arnhem Land." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1995. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2078/.
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This ethnography demonstrates that it is through images of the body and movement that the Yolnu of North-east Arnhem Land uphold their ancestral wisdom and construct their vision of the future in a changing world. The importance of body imagery is examined in the kinship system; features of the landscape; the process of naming and the power of names; the formation of personal and group identities, political outlook and emotional bonds; the behaviour and creation of the ancestors; and in the re-creation of ancestral space and movement in mortuary ceremonies, song and dance. Song and dance are shown to be vital to the "visualisation" of social relations, and to the inheritance and transferral of knowledge, rights and power. Yolnju imagery is neither static nor pre-determined. It is negotiated, created, embodied, maintained and experienced through movement and in processes that make it "visible". These findings have implications for anthropological models of totemism that ignore the labile nature of image formation. Changing, political, social, cultural and economic circumstances are prompting the Yolnju to develop a form of modern vision that is closely connected with their ancestral wisdom. The flexible processes of Yolnju imagery and identity formation that support the creation of a "modern-time vision" also enhance understanding of, and political negotiation with non-Aboriginal bureaucratic institutions.
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De, Largy Healy Jessica. "The spirit of emancipation and the struggle with modernity : land, art, ritual and a digital knowledge documentation project in a Yolngu community, Galiwin'ku, Northern Territory of Australia." Paris, EHESS, 2008. http://www.theses.fr/2008EHES0360.
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La recherche repose sur un terrain ethnographique dans la municipalité aborigène de Galiwin'ku, en Terre d'Arnhem (Australie). Elle examine les stratégies empiriques mises en oeuvre par des anciens Yolngu à l'aide des nouvelles technologies (NTIC) afin de produire des représentations signifiantes de la modernité pour les jeunes générations. Ces représentations furent initiées par une expérimentation avec un projet de numérisation de leur système de savoir et interculturelle du savoir. L'analyse met à jour les façons dont les Yolngu s'affirment en tant qu'acteurs de la modernité à travers la restauration de leur agencéité dans l'histoire. Elle montre comment les interprétations du passé trouvent à travers la performance rituelle une expression actualisée qui articule le passé ancestral dans une relation dynamique avec les défis de la modernité auxquels les Yolngu font face quotidiennement<br>This research is based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Aboriginal township of Galiwin'ku, in Arnhem Land (Australia). It examines some empirical strategies conceived by Yolngu leaders with new information and communication technologies in order to produce meaningful representations of modernity for the young generations. These representations were instigated by their experiment with a digital knowledge documentation project and the possibilities for local and intercultural knowledge transmission this experiment gave rise to. The thesis illustrates how Yolngu assert their place in modernity through the restoration of their agency in history. It shows how, through ritual performances interpretations of the past find actualised expressions which articulate the ancestral past in a dynamic relationship with the challenges of modernity that Yolngu face in their daily lives
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Ronström, Owe. "Didjeridu - från Arnhem Land till Internet - och tillbaka : tre perspektiv på kulturell exotism, globalisering och makt." Högskolan på Gotland, Avdelningen för Samhällsgeografi och etnologi, 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hgo:diva-362.
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The didjeridu, a musical instrument once used only by Australian aboriginies in north Arnhem Land, has within little more than ten years become spread worldwide. Not only has it become a symbol of black aboriginality in Australia, but it has also taken place among koalas and bumerangs as a symbol of Australianess. It has also become widely used as a symbol of indigeniety among indigenous peoples and their spokesmen all over the world. Another large group of didjeridu-fans are ’alternative lifestylers’ and ’New-Age’ devotees, for which the didjeridu represents, among other things, a immideate connection to Mother Earth and the spiritual world. In this articel the fast transition from North Arnhem Land to Internet and back is examined, from three perspectives: the tourist’s, the musicologist’s and the cultural analyst’s. It is argued that an important reason behind the fast spread of the instrument is a major shift in the control of the knowledge of the instrument from ”knowers” to ”doers”, and that the global visibility reflects and sthrengthens rather than challenges the basic assymetrical power relations between blacks and whites, rulers and the ruled.
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Coulehan, Kerin Maureen. "Sitting down in Darwin: Yolngu women from northeast Arnhem Land and family life in the city." Phd thesis, Northern Territory University, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/268621.
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Brown, Reuben Jay. "Following footsteps: The kun-borrk/manyardi song tradition and its role in western Arnhem Land society." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/15671.
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In western Arnhem Land, a diverse song tradition—referred to as kun-borrk in Bininj Gunwok language and manyardi in Mawng language—continues to be passed down over many generations. Today, these songs play a central role in a wide variety of public occasions including funeral ceremonies, diplomacy or exchange ceremonies, formal events such as cultural festivals and informal excursions to ancestral country with family, or visiting researchers. Following in the footsteps of their fathers, grandfathers, and ancestors before them who sang in languages now endangered or understood only by ancestral spirits, Aboriginal songmen continue to teach these songs and their accompanying dances to younger generations, and compose new songs which have been given to them by deceased spirits in dreams, while women pass on their expertise in dancing and directing aspects of the ceremony, as well as their knowledge of particular song-sets. Bringing together historically and linguistically informed performance ethnography and music analysis, this thesis describes the social significance of western Arnhem Land song traditions to the everyday lives of both Bininj/Arrarrkpi (Aboriginal people) and Balanda (non-Aboriginal people). Each chapter analyses performances of kun-borrk/manyardi in different social contexts, which have in common the theme of intercultural encounter and exchange. The author traces his own journey on the road to learning about Bininj/Arrarrkpi culture by participating in social events in and around the communities of Gunbalanya and Warruwi in western Arnhem Land, accompanied by kun-borrk/manyardi songmen and their families. (Since many aspects of Aboriginal sociality and knowledge are gendered, the study reflects the perspective of men in particular that the author collaborated with). For hundreds of years since the arrival of Macassans from South Sulawesi to their shores, Aboriginal people have performed their songs in ceremony for outsiders and for neighbouring clan and language groups to establish good relations. This thesis shows how, as social circumstances in Arnhem Land change, kun-borrk and manyardi continue to play a fundamental role in mediating relationships and maintaining traditional culture and values, laying out a path for the next generation to follow.
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Grootjans, John, of Western Sydney Hawkesbury University, and of Health Humanities and Social Ecology Faculty. "Both ways and beyond : in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker education." THESIS_FHHSE_SEL_Grootjans_J.xml, 1999. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/445.
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During 1987 my essential beliefs about the nature of the world were challenged by a chance event which led to my arrival in Arnhemland. Working with Aboriginal people allowed me to see first hand the failings of Western ideas in Aboriginal education and health. This is how a 12 year collaboration with Aboriginal people began. The aim was to search for answers to the question, 'Why so many ideas that had been successfully used in the Western world, fail to meet the needs of aboriginal people? My experiences prior to 1995 had led me to believe that Both Ways, an education pedagogy developed in teacher education, was the best approach for empowering Aboriginal Health Workers. I believed Both Ways gave Aboriginal Health Workers a means to develop solutions to aboriginal health issues which valued and respected their aboriginal knowledge. I needed to describe and evaluate the practice of both ways with Aboriginal Health workers for the purpose of proving the benefit of this pedagogy for other educators in this field. This thesis describes how I came to think Both Ways was a good idea; how I defined Both ways; and how I put it into practice. It also provides a description of the issues raised in my critique of Both Ways and in my attempts to provide answers to these issues. Several years of collecting data, including records from action research group discussions, participant observation, interviews with peers and students, and formal evaluations left me with many concerns about Both Ways. As educators follow my journey of discovery I hope that they will recognise experiences and insights that they themselves have shared. The descriptions and discussions in this thesis will add significantly to the overall discourse about health worker education. Similarly, the exploration of ideas beyond Both Ways will add significantly to the overall body knowledge about the power relationships involved in teaching in a cross cultural setting<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Adepoyibi, A. C., and n/a. "Djungayin, Bungawa or Mr Chairman : analysis of management in a remote aboriginal community council in east Arnhem land." University of Canberra. Administrative Studies, 1988. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060529.122940.
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Dix, Samuel S. "Understanding contact, hybridity, conservatism and innovation in archaeological superimposition of rock art. Djulirri, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia." Thesis, Griffith University, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/410540.
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The archaeology of contact rock art in Australia is an emerging field exploring Indigenous reactions to encounters with outsiders, which has gained momentum over the past couple of decades. In this research, the impact of contact seen in rock art and archaeology was assessed, with a focus on the Northern Territory, Australia. Specifically, in Arnhem Land, the Djulirri rock shelter was chosen as the key case study because of its excellent and unique collection of contact rock art. To understand contact narratives more broadly, this thesis focuses on how hybridity (merging of cultures), conservatism (reluctance for change) and innovation (innovations coming from contact) impacted on the nature of recent rock art production at Djulirri’s Main Gallery, through the superimposition of rock art. This superimposition was detailed by digitally tracing each motif so that the stratigraphic profile of the motifs could be determined and an understanding of contact could be made. It is through this analysis that the contact narrative is made, exploring what new forms of rock art emerged, and what techniques can be applied to provide a more detailed understanding of contact rock art. I conclude this thesis by arguing that hybridity, conservatism and innovation were all factors in the contact archaeology of Djulirri. I argue that contact was a turbulent time for Indigenous Australians and that the rock art produced at Djulirri was completed to inform people about a changing world. This rock art was not carried out over prolonged periods, but as bursts of activity as a reaction to a particular event or change. Artists created hybrid ways of producing rock art, where they were innovative in their responses to this contact, but still held conservative values of how this information was delivered. Senior Traditional Owner R. Lamilami called Djulirri a library for his people. Through the process of digitally interrogating the stratigraphic profile of the site, placing the motifs in a chronological context, and understanding hybridity, conservatism and innovation, R. Lamilami’s beliefs are reinforced.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc<br>Arts, Education and Law<br>Full Text
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Johnston, Iain Gray. "The Dynamic Figure Art of Jabiluka: A study of ritual in early Australian rock art." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/148425.
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This thesis is an investigation of ritual practice in
the Dynamic Figure rock art of Jabiluka in Mirarr Country,
Australia. Painted across western Arnhem Land, Dynamic Figure art
constitutes the earliest easily recognisable body of rock art in
this region of northern Australia. Despite its antiquity, its
most striking attributes are the extremely detailed depictions of
human figures with a plethora of material culture, that are
engaged in a range of narrative scenes. This thesis explores how
the material culture, scenes and other attributes of Dynamic
Figure art are acutely associated with ritual and the insights
this rock art provides into past ritual behaviour. The highly
detailed work of Dynamic Figure artists has enabled the
identification of ritual indicators derived from archaeological
and anthropological investigation of ritual practice. These
ritual indicators provide insights into aspects of the esoteric
and actual performative forms of ritual behaviour. These detailed
depictions also provide further insights into people’s
lifeways, revealing evidence about society, gender, initiation
and material culture during the period of Dynamic Figure art
production. In this thesis, I demonstrate the value of rigorous
analysis and investigation of one type of rock art from a defined
study area, in contrast to previous studies in the region with
broad spatial and temporal boundaries. This focused approach
incorporates the multi-vocal sources available in northern
Australia to consider inquiries not possible of broader studies.
The Dynamic Figure art of Jabiluka demonstrates the significance
of ritual places, headdresses and aspects of both continuity and
discontinuity in art production in northern Australia and further
highlights the significance of rock art to understand ritual
practice and people’s past lifeways.
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Auld, Glenn. "The literacy practices of Kunibídji children : Text, technology and transformation." Thesis, University of Ballarat, 2005. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/69512.
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Members of the Kunibídji community are the traditional owners of the lands and seas around Maningrida, a remote community in Arnhem Land in Northern Australia. Kunibídji children speak Ndjébbana as their first language and learn to speak English as a third or fourth language at school. Underpinning this study is a belief that the children have the right to speak their own language and access texts in their own language at home. [...] This study investigated the literacy practices that approximately fifty Kunibídji children enacted in the literacy events with the Ndjébbana talking books. [...] This study found that Kunibídji children had a desire to access the Ndjébbana talking books, a will to participate in the literacy events and the capacity to be critical about these literacy events at home.<br>Doctor of Philosophy
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Barber, Marcus. "Where the clouds stand Australian Aboriginal relationships to water, place, and the marine environment in Blue Mud Bay, Northern Territory /." Click here for electronic access, 2005. http://adt.caul.edu.au/homesearch/get/?mode=advanced&format=summary&nratt=2&combiner0=and&op0=ss&att1=DC.Identifier&combiner1=and&op1=-sw&prevquery=&att0=DC.Title&val0=Where+the+clouds+stand&val1=NBD%3A&submit=Search.
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Castets, Géraldine. "Apports de l'analyse des matières colorantes et colorées dans l'étude intégrée d'un site orné. Application au site de Nawarla Gabarnmang (Terre d'Arnhem, Territoire du Nord - Australie)." Thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes (ComUE), 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017GREAA030/document.
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Au cours de l’élaboration des peintures rupestres, divers matériaux colorants peuvent être mobilisés et produire des vestiges archéologiques liés aux différentes étapes de la préparation de la matière picturale. À Nawarla Gabarnmang, site majeur d’art rupestre Jawoyn (Terre d’Arnhem, Territoire du Nord – Australie), les fouilles archéologiques ont mis au jour un grand nombre de ce type de vestiges. La séquence archéologique, obtenue par datation au 14C, a révélé la présence de dépôts culturels parmi les plus anciens connus en Australie, avec une occupation du site qui s’étend de ≥48 000 ans cal BP jusqu’au début du XXème siècle. Plafonds et piliers du site présentent plusieurs générations de peintures ; les plafonds du site contiennent à eux seuls près de 1400 entités graphiques. La place de cet art interroge : est-il l’expression des premiers Hommes arrivés sur le continent australien il y a près de 50 000 ans ou le témoin d’occupations plus récentes ? Caractérisé par la superposition de plusieurs générations de peintures qu’on ne peut dater de manière « directe » en raison de la nature minéralogique des composants des peintures, la définition de leur chronologie constitue un fort enjeu de recherche. Menés d’emblée dans une approche intégrée, les premiers travaux ont permis d’étudier la chronologie et la nature des occupations, via les fouilles archéologiques, d’identifier les aménagements réalisés au cours des différentes phases d’occupation et de mettre en avant la richesse et la diversité de son répertoire artistique de même que l’abondance et la variété des vestiges associés à l’art rupestre. Afin d’appréhender au mieux la temporalité et les usages du site de Nawarla Gabarnmang depuis les premières occupations préhistoriques jusqu’aux fréquentations subactuelles, l’analyse des matières colorantes et colorées, retrouvées dans les carrés de fouille réalisés sous les panneaux peints des plafonds ou à l’aplomb des piliers décorés, permet de reconstituer les étapes de la chaîne opératoire ayant produit les matières picturales : de la source d’approvisionnement en matières premières, aux modes de transformation et de préparation (broyage, mélange avec charges et/ou liants, traitement thermique) jusqu’à leur application. La stratégie méthodologique mise en place couvre un large panel de techniques de caractérisation physico-chimique pour répondre aux problématiques soulevées par les différents vestiges associés à l’art rupestre. De l’observation macroscopique aux micro-analyses non invasives couplées à des analyses structurales, en passant par des techniques basées sur le rayonnement synchrotron, l’étude menée sur les matières colorantes et colorées a permis de révéler une diversité et une complexité de phases minérales utilisées dans l’art rupestre de Nawarla Gabarnmang. Croisée avec les données archéologiques, anthropo-géomorphologiques et pariétales, elle permet de proposer un cadre chronologique des différentes générations de peintures en lien avec les phases d’occupation qui ont marqué l’histoire du site. L’analyse des matières colorantes et colorées réalisée au cours de cette thèse constitue un vecteur de connaissances importantes et livre des informations complémentaires aux approches archéologique, géomorphologique et pariétale menées sur le site de Nawarla Gabarnmang. Les informations apportées par l’étude de ces matières permettent de renseigner tant sur les évolutions techniques et comportementales que sur l’implication culturelle de ce site, aussi bien dans ses dimensions spatiales que temporelles<br>In the making of rock art, raw colouring material is used, thus providing many artifacts related to different steps of elaboration of pictorial matter. In the case of the important rock art site of Nawarla Gabarnmang in the Jawoyn country (Arnhem Land, North Territory – Australia), excavations have revealed a large number of such artifacts. The archaeological sequence from the floor deposits, radiocarbon-dated from ≥48,000 cal BP to the early twentieth century, has revealed some of the oldest known cultural deposits in Australia. The ceilings of the site contain well over 1400 still-visible paintings in multiple, superimposed layers. Countless additional paintings cover many of the rock pillars’ walls. This art raises questions: is it an expression of the first humans arrived on the Australian continent 50,000 years ago, or the evidence of recent occupation periods? Characterized by a succession of overlaid motifs, which cannot be “directly” dated because of the mineralogical nature of the rock paintings’ components, the determination of the age of the rock paintings represents a major issue. Through an integrated approach to the matter, the first results of the archaeological excavations enabled to study the chronology and the nature of activities, to identify the origins and transformations of the sheltered space through time, to highlight the richness and the diversity of its artistic work, as well as the abundance and the variety of the artifacts. To get a better insight into the temporality and the uses of Nawarla Gabarnmang since the first prehistoric activities until the recent periods, the analysis of the colouring and coloured matters, found in trial excavations under the painted panels on the ceilings or at the bottom of decorated pillars, allow us to rebuild the steps of the “chaîne opératoire” leading to the production of pictorial matter: from the sources of raw materials, the methods of transformation and preparation (grinding, mixing with mineral extenders and/or organic binders, heat treatment), to the application on the rock. To answer the questions raised by different artifacts, the methodological strategy includes a large range of microscopic and spectroscopic approaches. Subjected to macroscopic observations and non-invasive micro-analytical techniques along with structural techniques, as well as techniques using synchrotron radiation, the analysis of the colouring and coloured matters has revealed the variety and the complexity of mineral compounds used in the rock art of Nawarla Gabarnmang. Then, cross-referenced with archaeological, archaeomorphological and rock art studies, the physico-chemical characterization allows to suggest a chronological framework for the different superimposed layers linked to the periods of activities that marked the history of the site. The analysis of colouring and coloured matters undertaken by this thesis represents an important source of knowledge and delivers further informations to the geomorphological, archaeological and rock art studies carried out at the Nawarla Gabarnmang. The results provided by the study of these materials bring information as well on technical and behavioral evolutions, as on the cultural involvement of this site, not only in its spatial but also in its temporal dimensions
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Grootjans, John. "Both ways and beyond : in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker education." Thesis, View thesis, 1999. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/445.
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During 1987 my essential beliefs about the nature of the world were challenged by a chance event which led to my arrival in Arnhemland. Working with Aboriginal people allowed me to see first hand the failings of Western ideas in Aboriginal education and health. This is how a 12 year collaboration with Aboriginal people began. The aim was to search for answers to the question, 'Why so many ideas that had been successfully used in the Western world, fail to meet the needs of aboriginal people? My experiences prior to 1995 had led me to believe that Both Ways, an education pedagogy developed in teacher education, was the best approach for empowering Aboriginal Health Workers. I believed Both Ways gave Aboriginal Health Workers a means to develop solutions to aboriginal health issues which valued and respected their aboriginal knowledge. I needed to describe and evaluate the practice of both ways with Aboriginal Health workers for the purpose of proving the benefit of this pedagogy for other educators in this field. This thesis describes how I came to think Both Ways was a good idea; how I defined Both ways; and how I put it into practice. It also provides a description of the issues raised in my critique of Both Ways and in my attempts to provide answers to these issues. Several years of collecting data, including records from action research group discussions, participant observation, interviews with peers and students, and formal evaluations left me with many concerns about Both Ways. As educators follow my journey of discovery I hope that they will recognise experiences and insights that they themselves have shared. The descriptions and discussions in this thesis will add significantly to the overall discourse about health worker education. Similarly, the exploration of ideas beyond Both Ways will add significantly to the overall body knowledge about the power relationships involved in teaching in a cross cultural setting
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Fache, Élodie. "Impérialisme écologique ou développement ? : Les acteurs de la gestion des ressources naturelles à Ngukurr en Australie." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013AIXM3037.
Full textAbstract:
En Australie du Nord, une nouvelle catégorie d'acteurs sociaux aborigènes a émergé dans les années 1990 : les « rangers ». Fondés sur la professionnalisation et la formalisation de responsabilités « traditionnelles » envers la terre et la mer, leurs emplois et programmes sont présentés comme des mécanismes de « gestion des ressources naturelles » et de conservation de la biodiversité contrôlés par les communautés autochtones, tout comme un support de « développement » local. Cette thèse propose un regard critique sur le système des rangers en partant de la question suivante : constitue-t-il une manifestation « d'impérialisme écologique » ? L'ethnographie (2009-2010) des interactions sociales mises en jeu par les activités du groupe de rangers de la communauté de Ngukurr (Terre d'Arnhem, Territoire du Nord) y est associée à une contextualisation et à une analyse articulant échelles locale, régionale et nationale et discours international. Le système des rangers reflète diverses logiques endogènes et exogènes qui dépassent ses objectifs affichés de résilience environnementale et socio-économique. Il repose sur des rapports de pouvoir et des négociations complexes entre les différents acteurs impliqués (dont l'État australien), entre « savoirs écologiques traditionnels » et science, et entre rapports sociaux locaux et bureaucratiques. Cette étude met au jour le processus de bureaucratisation et les multiples ingérences et ambivalences inhérents à ce système, qui (re)produit des distinctions et tensions sociales. Elle souligne également la fonction de médiateurs qu'endossent les rangers ainsi que l'ambiguïté de la position de chercheur dans un tel contexte<br>In Northern Australia, a new category of Indigenous social actors emerged in the 1990s: “rangers”. Their jobs and programmes are based on the professionalization and formalization of “traditional” responsibilities for the land and sea. They are presented as natural resource management and biodiversity conservation mechanisms controlled by Indigenous communities and as a basis for local “development”.This thesis proposes a critical view of the ranger system, starting from the following question: is this system a form of “ecological imperialism”? The ethnography (2009-2010) of the social interactions at work in the activities of the Ngukurr community's ranger group (Arnhem Land, Northern Territory) is combined with a contextualization and an analysis linking local, regional and national levels with the international discourse.The ranger system reflects various endogenous and exogenous logics that go beyond its stated aims of environmental and socioeconomic resilience. It is based on complex power relations and negotiations between the different actors involved (including the Australian State), between “traditional ecological knowledge” and science, and between local and bureaucratic social relationships. This study reveals the bureaucratization process and the many external interventions and ambivalences inherent in this system which (re)produces social distinctions and tensions. It also highlights the mediator or broker role played by the rangers as well as the ambiguous position of the researcher in such a context
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Canning, Anna [Verfasser], Arne [Akademischer Betreuer] Körtzinger, and Bernhard [Gutachter] Wehrli. "Greenhouse gas observations across the Land-Ocean Aquatic Continuum: Multi-sensor applications for CO2, CH4 and O2 measurements / Anna Canning ; Gutachter: Bernhard Wehrli ; Betreuer: Arne Körtzinger." Kiel : Universitätsbibliothek Kiel, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1211649261/34.
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Schulz, Katharina [Verfasser], Ingo [Gutachter] Kowarik, Arne [Gutachter] Cierjacks, and Isabell [Gutachter] Hensen. "Land-use effects on plant biodiversity and carbon cycling in seasonally dry tropical forests in north-eastern Brazil / Katharina Schulz ; Gutachter: Ingo Kowarik, Arne Cierjacks, Isabell Hensen." Berlin : Technische Universität Berlin, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1222588218/34.
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Lane, Robert Lazarus. "Documentation Cultures: Arnhem Land 1935-2015." Phd thesis, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/156804.
Full textAbstract:
Ceremonial activity has always been a form of documentation for Yolngu-the Indigenous people of north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Drawing on ethnography and archival research, I aim to show the intergenerational and cross-cultural role played by persistent documentation practices. My analysis is based on embedded fieldwork undertaken in Arnhem Land between 2008 and 2015. An ethnographic approach is combined with archival research to examine documentation produced by a range of Yolngu people between 1935 and 2015. I argue, Yolngu approaches to documentation drives knowledge management locally and shapes cross-cultural projects, creating a mass of documents that reflects a documentary agency. Previous research on ceremonial activity, and ritual practices more broadly, has not explicitly addressed the ways in which knowledge is performed as documentation. This research enables a culturally inflected view of documentation that provides a different perspective on the ways in which media and performance is used as a means of acting in the world. Each chapter includes a discussion of Yolngu engagement with documentary production, and the examination of documentary evidence selected from the archive. These multiple perspectives frame my analysis of performance and ceremony as documentation in the context of ritual, educational, artistic, legal and political action.
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Eather, Bronwyn. "A grammar of Nakkara (Central Arnhem Land Coast)." Phd thesis, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/132899.
Full textAbstract:
Chapter 1: In the first chapter I present a brief overview of the Nakkara language and its
speakers. We look firstly at the linguistic type and point out that Nakkara belongs to the
Non-Pama Nyungan family of Australian languages. Some of the salient features of the
language are pointed out and comparisons drawn with other languages in the area.
Alternative names used to refer to this language are listed, followed by descriptions of the
traditional land estates of Nakkara speakers. The remainder of the chapter provides a
backdrop for the language description by outlining relations with traditional neighbours,
involvement with ceremony, arts and crafts, recent history and the language and its
speakers today.
Chapter 2: This chapter describes the phonology of Nakkara and includes phonemic
analysis, stress patterns, phonotactics and word structure, phonological and morphological
rules and orthographic representation. The most detailed area of analysis in this chapter is
the interpretation of an audible stop contrast in the language. Stop length is introduced as a
significant phonetic factor in the phonemic interpetation of Nakkara sounds.
Chapter 3: This chapter is entitled Morphological Preliminaries. It gives a typological
profile of the language and introduces most of the technical terms used in the morphological
analysis of Nakkara. The parts of speech (or word classes) used in this description are also
introduced here, as well as the morpho-syntactic notions of core, outer-core and peripheral
levels.
Chapter 4: The morphology of Nakkara is extensive and is therefore divided into three
separate chapters. In this chapter we examine nominal morphology in general, looking
firstly at independent pronoun morphology^ then at pronominal affixes. Lastly the
morphological functions of non-pronominal affixes and postpositions are introduced.
Chapter 5: This and the following chapter deal with the morphology of verbal structures in
the language. In chapter five the verb-complex (VC) is defined and the morphological
components of the verbal pronominal prefix are analysed extensively. This introduces the
notions of verb transitivity and valency, pronominal participant identification, the morphology of tense, status and polarity distinctions as well as Imperative and Hortative
constrictions. A
Chapter 6: This chapter deals with verb-stem morphology in Nakkara. We examine and
categorise verb conjugations and look at the idiosyncrasies of monosyllabic verbs in this
language. Other verb-stem components introduced are the orientation afffixes as well as the
reflexive, reciprocal and inchoative affixes.
Chapter 7: This chapter examines the form and function of the remaining word-classes and
thus represents a bridge between description of the morphology and syntax of this
language. These word-classes include qualifiers of space, place and time, interrogatives
and indefinites, connective and introductory particles, mood particles and adjuncts (which
function something like manner adverbials).
Chapter 8: This final chapter looks beyond morphology to the structure of both simple and
complex clauses in Nakkara. We examine firstly the occurrence of different types of verbless clauses in the language and then look at simple and complex verbal clauses.
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Russell-Smith, Jeremy. "The forest in motion : exploratory studies in Western Arnhem Land, Northern Australia." Phd thesis, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/109813.
Full textAbstract:
As a contribution to academic debate concerning northern
Australian vegetation ecology and history, and as a contribution
also to contemporary land management issues in that region, the
findings of various biogeographical, ecological and
ethnobotanical studies are presented here which, collectively,
explore the status of monsoon vine-forest (MVF) vegetation in
the western Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory.
Structurally, the thesis comprises five papers presented in
the chronological sequence of their completion, and a brief,
explanatory introduction. The first paper, written early in the
field-work programme and presented at a northern Australian
symposium focusing on current ecological research in the region,
describes vegetation changes associated with the advent of
European ecological influence in western Arnhem Land (i·e.
within the last 100 or so years), at Giina, a traditional
Aboriginal camp-site on the edge of the South Alligator River.
The paper describes the elimination of MVF at Giina, qnd its
reduction elsewhere in the local area, within the recent,
historical past. The paper concludes that the destruction of
such vegetation is attributable to feral animal impact and
changes to the burning regime. These themes are developed in
subsequent papers.
Whilst still on field work, and having been approached to
present a position paper on MVF in the Northern Territory, the
second paper, co-authored with Clyde Dunlop, attempts "to
provide an account of the ecology (so far as is known), the
condition and the conservation status of monsoon vine-forests in
the Northern Territory". This paper challenges the generally
accepted view that the scattered distribution of small, discrete
patches of MVF across northern Australia is attributable solely
to fragmentation of a former closed forest expanse. On the
basis of an ecological survey of MVF patches concentrated on the western Arnhem Land region, but including observations over a
wider region of the Northern Territory, it is shown that many
MVF patches occur entirely on landforms developed only in the
Holocene (i.e. the last 10 000 years) (e.g. coastal riverine
floodplain alluvia, coastal beach ridge deposits). Indeed, 70%
of the known Northern Territory MVF flora is observed to occur
on such landforms. This paper also provides a review of
relevant work undertaken on MVF in the Northern Territory at the
time of writing, a description of MVF vegetation Habitat Types,
an account of the dependent fauna, a checklist of the known
flora, and an assessment of the conservation status of MVF in
the region.
The third paper, completed at the close of 22 months field
studies, was prepared as a consultancy report to the Australian
National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra. The report
details the status, condition, and immediate threats to MVF
ecosystems in the vicinity of Kakadu National Park, in the
western Arnhem Land region. Special attention is given to the
impacts of feral animals, and contemporary and traditional
Aboriginal burning practices. The paper also considers the
significance of MVF to traditional Aboriginal economy.
The final two papers further develop certain themes outlined
in preceding papers. The papers present formal analyses of
ecological and biogeographical data, relating the findings to
wi1der academic contexts. On the basis of studies concerning the distribution of MVF in the western Arnhem Land region, and the
dispersal capacities and biogeographical affinities of component
taxa, the fourth paper considers how these observations may
contribute usefully to an understanding of the historical status
of MVF in that region. The fifth paper is concerned essentially
with the current status of MVF, drawing attention to the
ecological ramifications of different burning regimes. To place
fire in ecological context, this paper first explores the
influence of substrate conditions on MVF distribution. These
studies indicate that, in the absence of fire impact,seasonally
xeric, oligotrophic substrates are unlikely to limit widespread
development of closed canopy, MVF vegetation.
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Green, Rebecca. "A grammar of Gurr-goni (North Central Arnhem land)." Phd thesis, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/9278.
Full textAbstract:
Ch. 1 gives an overview of the Gurr-goni language, its typological characteristics, speakers and genetic relationships. It also covers phonological and morphological preliminaries.
Ch. 2 is concerned with the morphology and syntax of nominals. A distinction between nouns and adjectives is established. §2.2 deals with noun class: the parts of speech on which it is registered; the number of noun classes; the membership of each class, and possible categorisation principles; and patterns of agreement. Noun phrases are briefly discussed in §2.3. §2.4 deals with case as a property of the noun phrase, and presents the case forms and functions. Possessive constructions are dealt with in §2.5, and derivational morphology is briefly covered in §2.6.
Ch. 3 presents the pronouns, demonstratives, and interrogatives. We discuss the pronominal categories of person, number and gender, and consider the discourse functions of free pronouns. The distinctions encoded by the demonstrative stems are the subject of §3.2, and §3.3 illustrates the use of interrogative/indeterminate forms.
Ch. 4 deals with verb morphology. First, an overview of the structure of the verb complex is given. In §4.3, I examine the pronominal prefixes, identifying their component morphemes. For the transitive prefixes, I also justify the recognition of a singular/non-singular number distinction, and elucidate the principles that determine which pronominal participant is overtly marked. §4.4 describes the tense system, which exhibits the rare feature of having the fixed time reference of one tense interrupted by part of the fixed time reference of another. The category of status, often called mood, is discussed in §4.5, while §4.6 covers illocutionary mood (or force). In §4.7, I list the verbal conjugations, established on the basis of the tense/status allomorphs selected. The final sections of Chapter 4 discuss valence changing devices and directional prefixes.
Ch. 5 looks at the structure of clauses. In §5.1, I illustrate non-verbal clause types. In §5.2, we turn to simple verbal clauses. I look firstly at the realisation of core arguments (A, S and 0), and briefly consider peripheral arguments. We then consider the evidence for assigning core or non-core status to other arguments. §5.3 deals with serial verb constructions, a pervasive feature of the Gurr-goni language. We distinguish two major types, one which encodes categories of associated motion and aspect, and one which has 'experiencer' and causative functions. In §5.4, I suggest that a parallel construction may exist, in which the first predicate is a nominal. Moving from simple and complex single clauses, we tum in §5.5 to co-ordination of clauses, and in §5.6 to subordination. Chapter 5 concludes with a discussion of negation (§5.7) and questions (§5.8).
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Dobson, Graeme Thomas. "The Warruwi Pond enigma : pre- European aquaculture in Arnhem Land?" Phd thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/149964.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis sets out to determine if comparative aquaculture and marine wild stock management techniques can be used to identify early foreign activity in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia. There is one known pre-European example of aquaculture in Arnhem Land-Indigenous pearl cultivation by Yolngu, the Indigenous clans of northeast Arnhem Land. There is also a large hitherto undescribed stone walled, clay lined pond in the low intertidal area in Mardbulk Bay off the community of Warruwi on South Goulburn Island in west Arnhem Land (the Warruwi pond) which was potentially used for either aquaculture or wild marine stock management. Local clans do not claim this structure nor are they aware of its origins or uses. The Warruwi Pond is described in this thesis and that description used to compare it with structures used in four possible use scenarios. These were a ceremonial ground, a wild stock management tool, a fish trap and aquaculture. It is also compared to similar structures with known uses in the region. Two linked activities are identified as possible uses for the Warruwi pond, holding live sea cucumbers prior to processing and as a spawning enhancement device (where a single species is heavily stocked in a confined area and induced to breed, the proximity of individuals maximises breeding success). East Arnhem Land pearl cultivation is also described and compared to known modern and historic techniques to determine the origins of the Arnhem Land method. It is probable that the pearl industry, both wild harvested and cultured, was introduced to the Yolngu as they had no significant use for pearls other than to trade with foreigners and were, therefor, unlikely to have learned the technique themselves. Comparisons of the Warruwi pond and structures associated with pearl cultivation determined that the two were probably not linked, leading to the conclusion that two or more distinct groups of foreign people were active in Arnhem Land in pre-European times. Identifying these people (albeit tentatively) required a detailed examination of the history of the region, of sea cucumber cultivation, trade and consumption, and pearl trade and cultivation. Evidence in each of these topics is sparce for the most part, so use is made of several disparate sources and observations. Using aquaculture and marine wild stock management as central themes, this thesis draws together a range of sources to determine which were the most likely foreign groups active in pre-European north Australia, and proposes hypotheses on when they came, how long they stayed, what they did there and why they departed. This thesis adds two more significant pieces of evidence for foreign activity in north Australia prior to the mid-18th C, but given the scant and often controversial nature of other evidence the conclusions of this research remain tentative and provisional. Further research is suggested into several enigmatic artefacts identified in the course of this study which may serve to reinforce or undermine these conclusions.
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Taylor, Luke. "'The same but different' : social reproduction and innovation in the art of the Kunwinjku of western Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/132451.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents an analysis of the artistic systern of the Kunwinjku of western
Arnhen1 Land, Australia. The analysis focusses on the n1eanings encoded in Kunwinjku
bark paintings and how the operation of the artistic system develops the sernantic
productivity of paintings. The theoretical basis of this analysis is semiological in the
n1anner outlined by Saussure.
The thesis begins with a historical analysis of the development of the market for
K unwinjku paintings. I argue that the production of bark paintings for sale has largely
replaced the traditional contexts of secular painting and also some forms of ceremonial
painting. I show how bark painting now has a very in1portant role in the transmission
of culturally constituted sets of rneanings between generations of Kunwinjku.
After this general introduction, the analysis shifts to the way that bark paintings are
integrated with the Kunwinjku social systen1. I consider the dynamics of the way
Kunwinjku men compete to acquire knowledge of Ancestral subjects, and how paintings
are used as a public display of the knowledgeable status of individual artists. I show
how the acquisition of knowledge is organised in respect of the ceremonial systen1 and
how paintings used in ceren1ony are an important means by which such knowledge is
comn1unicated. The analysis of the rneanings encoded in ceremonial paintings provides
th~ introductory background for a rnore detailed exarnination of the way bark paintings
encode both rnundane and 111ore esoteric ceren1onial references.
The 111ain body of the thesis identifies different types of Kunwinjku bark paintings
and the specific way n1eaning is encoded in each type. It begins with paintings that
Kunwinjka consider to be naturalistic representations. This analysis distinguishes the
variety of ways that Kunwinjku see components of the outline form of their figures
to be iconically motivated. The succeeding chapter investigates the way that paintings
which show more an1biguous figurative forms depict the transformational characteristics
of the Ancestral Beings. The innovative potential of such paintings is discussed. The
next chapter shows how the composition of the figurative forms of some bark paintings
can be n1odified to resernble the composition of ceremonial paintings as a means of
incorporating more esoteric references in the work. The final chapter of this analysis reveals how different types of x-ray infill of figurative motifs associates the figures with
distinct reahns of 1neaning. Different paintings can refer to the reahns of food division,
the nature of death. social grouping or the organisation of landscape. I describe the
way that. senior K unwinjku artists 1nay develop new types of x-ray infill i.o create new
n1ean1ngs.
In the conclusion I consider the way Kunwinjku are progressively socialised to understand
the n1eanings of different types of paintings , and how the artistic systen1 is
organised to create the se111antic productivity of paintings. I show that Kunwinjku
not. only learn t.he 1neanings of different paintings , but also learn to abstract stuctures
that organise their understanding of the relationships between paintings. By showing
how the artistic systen1 works to condense many reahns of Kunwinjku experience of the
world I show how this sytem is involved in the n1aintenance of the continued coherence
and vitality of K unwinjku belief. I relate innovation in K unwinjku art to the sen1antic
productivity developed within the system.
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May, Sally. "Karrikadjurren : creating community with an art centre in Indigenous Australia." Phd thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/151351.
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Slotte, Ingrid. "We are family, we are one: an aboriginal Christian movement in Arnhem Land, Australia." Phd thesis, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/145968.
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Jenkins, Susan. "Thesis : The Aboriginal Memorial." Master's thesis, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/155531.
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Eggerking, Kitty. "Landmarks: reading the Gove Peninsula." Phd thesis, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/11613.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates the events leading up to and including the first land rights case, Milirrpum v Nabalco, heard in the Northern Territory Supreme Court before Justice Blackburn in 1970. It examines how the Yolngu people of the Yirrkala mission responded to the federal government’s leasing of the Gove Peninsula for the mining of bauxite, initially by seeking a political solution and subsequently legal redress. Thus, it considers events such as the bark petitions the people of Yirrkala sent to the federal parliament in 1963 and the subsequent inquiry by a select committee of the House of Representatives into Yolngu grievances. While these events are reasonably well known, the thesis situates them in fresh and appropriate political contexts. For instance, it takes into account the instability of the Menzies government in 1963; and, further, it examines the relevant parliamentary standing orders to show that the bark petitions were in order but the then Minister for Territories was out of order in ‘rejecting’ the first petition.
As well as these known events, the thesis also brings to light many other hitherto unreported events and matters. These events — and especially the actual Gove case — represent key moments for inspecting the contest of Indigenous and non-Indigenous systems of knowledge or world views, and this is the key reason for undertaking the study. To chart a course through the two disparate traditions, much of the focus is on the ways that land is conceptualised.
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Elliott, Craig. "M̀ewal is Merri's name' : form and ambiguity in Marrangu cosmology, North Central Arnhem Land." Master's thesis, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/10349.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines two spirit concepts, Merri and Mewal, in a north-central Arnhem
Land cosmology. My broad objective is to write on the content and organisation of
Aboriginal cosmology and the relationship of spirit concepts to the sensible world. The
research is based on six months fieldwork in 1989-90 at two outstations, Galawdjapin
and Gattji (see Map 1.1 ). My aim prior to fieldwork was to record and analyse a genre of song belonging to the Marrangu people. I wanted to see how the songs relate to mortuary beliefs and customs. This aim (of recording and translating the entire song cycle) proved too ambitious for the short time I was at Galawdjapin and Gattji, though many recordings were made and a start made on the translations. Analysis of the songs remains an important aspect of the research, as both Merri and Mewal are named song subjects 1 in the Marrangu manikay cycle (see Chapter 4).
Hamilton, working among the Anbarra people of north-central Arnhem Land, has
observed that "research is often like this - the questions you set out to ask are
supplanted by questions which the data themselves generate" (1981 :16). In my case the data generates first ambiguity, then questions. The ambiguity is this: people at
Galawdjapin and Gattji say that the Spirit Beings Merri and Mewal are two different
entities but that they are also the 'same'…
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Salvestro, Denise Yvonne. "Printmaking by Yolngu artists of Northeast Arnhem Land: 'Another way of telling our stories'." Phd thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/110680.
Full textAbstract:
Art plays a fundamental role in the lives of the Yolngu—the Indigenous people of Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Knowledge of their culture, laws, history and relationship to country has historically been passed on to successive generations orally and through their clan specific patterns and designs (miny’tji). Since first known contact with the outside world Yolngu artists have demonstrated innovation in adapting their art, and adopting introduced materials and techniques, to create art for the purpose of passing on knowledge and enlightening others about their ontology, culture and title to land. This thesis provides the first comprehensive history of the introduction to, and use of the print medium by the artists of Northeast Arnhem Land with a focus on those artists working at the Print Space at the Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre at Yirrkala. The Print Space is unique amongst Indigenous owned and run print facilities in that since its inception in 1995, locally trained artists and printmakers have been employed in the continuous production of limited edition prints. The research undertaken has revealed that the successful incorporation of printmaking into Yolngu art production resulted from a combination of factors, with the Yolngu themselves being proactive agents in influencing the development of the Print Space and promoting the use of the print medium for political, social, educational and economic purposes. Women in particular enthusiastically advocated the acceptance of this introduced medium as printmaking played an important part in liberating female artists from their historically restricted role in art production. The adoption of print technology was controversial. The issue arose as to whether the mechanical reproduction of sacred clan designs moved the creative away from the hand of the artists and their direct connection with the creator ancestors. A further concern was that printmaking had the potential to encourage the inappropriate use of miny’tji and the abuse of intellectual property. This dissertation considers the changing attitudes and various approaches taken by the Yolngu in addressing these sensitive issues and the manner in which some of the artists are adapting traditional practices to reproduce the intricacy of the clan patterns and designs in print, while protecting the restricted or sacred, deeper meanings within the miny’tji. This thesis establishes that printmaking is a prime exemplar of cross-cultural collaborative exchange, facilitating innovation and individual creativity within Yolngu art practice. The collaborative nature of printmaking fostered significant reciprocal or ‘both ways’ learning exchanges through cross-cultural interactions between Yolngu artists and non-Yolngu schoolteachers, artists, art centre administrators, printmakers and gallerists. Considered by the Yolngu artists as ‘another way of telling our stories’, printmaking has provided an alternative artistic avenue for affirming Yolngu identity and connection to country and passing on knowledge to the younger generation. This thesis argues that the successful incorporation of this introduced art form into their art production is testimony to the willingness of the Yolngu to accept change in order to ensure the sustainability of their art and culture.
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Jones, Tristen. "Disentangling the styles, sequences and antiquity of the early rock art of western Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/118219.
Full textAbstract:
The rock art of western Arnhem Land represents one of the largest corpuses and most complex ancient cultural records in ancient Australia, with both the rock art and the broader archaeological landscape amongst the oldest Indigenous occupied landscapes in the country (David et al. 2013; Clarkson et al. 2015; Roberts et al. 1990, 1993, 1994). While both the archaeology and aspects of the rock art have been rigorously studied, the early rock art of Arnhem Land rock art largely remains disarticulated from the archaeological record owing to its unknown antiquity (Langley and Taçon 2010). The inability to temporally link rock art sequences to the archaeological record has thus limited the capacity of rock art researchers to inform and engage in disciplinary debates regarding the social nature and the cultural complexity of Indigenous societies in the deep past. This issue remains the greatest limitation of rock art research (Ross et al. 2016). This thesis aims to revaluate and test the validity of the previously proposed stylistic sequences and their assumed antiquity (Brandl 1973; Chaloupka 1993; Chippindale and Taçon 1998; Lewis 1988) with particular reference to the early to middle periods of western Arnhem Land rock art (Chippindale and Taçon 1998; Wesley et al. in press). It aims to anchor the stylistic chronology and our current understanding of western Arnhem Land rock art to the broader regional archaeological record through the production of absolute chronometric age constraints for selected rock art styles. The rock art styles subject to stylistic analysis and radiocarbon dating include; the Northern Running Figure style, the Large Naturalistic style, and the early X-ray style. By producing chronometric information regarding the timings of the emergence and disappearance of key rock art styles, a revised chronology for the early to middle periods can be proposed. This revised stylistic chronology for early to middle period rock art enables a combined re-evaluation of both the archaeology and the rock art in the region, thus consolidating our understanding of the social nature, function and cultural context of rock art production in western Arnhem Land throughout the Pleistocene – Holocene transition.
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Wesley, Daryl Lloyd. "Bayini, Macassans, Balanda, and Bininj : defining the Indigenous past of Arnhem land through culture contact." Phd thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/155704.
Full textAbstract:
This study has set out to investigate unresolved issues regarding the chronology, nature, and subsequent impacts from culture contacts between South East Asian maritime communities, Europeans, and northern Australian Indigenous populations. These issues include the question of whether there is archaeological evidence for pre-Macassan visitation in north western Arnhem Land. Therefore an important aim included assessing whether it is possible to measure the level of interaction and impact the trepang industry and later European economies had on local Indigenous communities through the investigation of the archaeological record from the Wellington Ranges, coastal region of Anuru Bay, and South Goulburn Island. Within the scope of this aim, it was important to re-assess and radiocarbon date the well-known Malara (Anuru Bay A) trepang processing site in order to gain a greater understanding of the intensity and frequency of Macassan (and possibly pre-Macassan) occupation, trepang processing, and contact with Aboriginal people. The results of this study support a longer timeframe of culture contact occurring from the early to mid-17th Century with a proliferation in the Macassan trepang processing industry from the mid-1700s.The study also aimed to investigate the complexity of change in Indigenous society during the culture contact period through documentation and analysis of the Indigenous archaeological record (material culture, rock art assemblages) at the Malarrak, Djulirri, and Maliwawa rockshelter complexes in the Wellington Range. This involved an examination of the spatial distribution of Indigenous rock art and archaeological sites to assess changes in residential mobility (both local and regional), resource utilisation, and impacts on Indigenous customary trade and exchange. A particular focus of this study analysed changes in Indigenous rock art production within western Arnhem Land that occurred during the culture contact period. This archaeological evidence has also been evaluated in conjunction with historical, ethnographic, linguistic, and anthropological records. The changes that occurred in Indigenous society accompanied by culture contact have been assessed using the Indigenous hybrid economy model developed by Altman (2006). This thesis argues that the archaeological evidence (i.e. occurrence of beads, rock art paintings of firearms and ships) establishes the presence of an operating hybrid economy between Indigenous people, Europeans, and Macassans. The operation of the hybrid economy allowed for Indigenous people to negotiate and interact with others based on customary law and tradition to influence the outcomes in these exchanges, such as allowing others to be on their country and to utilise their resources (i.e. trepang, buffalo). Building on Mitchell (1994) and Clarke's (1994) models of culture contact, this study proposes that western Arnhem Land culture contact proceeds and then transforms during five significant temporal phases consisting of (a) pre-Macassan, (b) Macassan, (c) Colonial, (d) Mission, and (e) Welfare economic periods.
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Lally, Elaine. "Yolngu marriage : an empirical analysis." Master's thesis, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/112479.
Full textAbstract:
The background to this thesis was in work undertaken by the author in
1982/83 in collaboration with Dr. Paul Jorion, then of the Department of
Social Anthropology at Cambridge University. This work entailed the
development of techniques for the computer analysis of genealogies,
looking specifically for genealogical relationships between spouses, and so
a detailed analysis of an extensive body of genealogical data provided a
logical topic for thesis research.
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Rudder, John. "Yolnu cosmology : an unchanging cosmos incorporating a rapidly changing world?" Phd thesis, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/12622.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is first and foremost a descriptive ethnography of the cosmology of the Yolnu people who live in the North East Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Supplementary to that description it explores the relationship between the Yolnu presupposition of changelessness, the rapidly changing world in which they live and their cosmology. The thesis is divided into four sections. The first briefly explores the theoretical frameworks to which it relates in terms of the literature on cosmology and world view, presupposition and the taken-for-granted, and extends into an introductory discussion of the Yolnu understandings of the area of thought frequently referred to in English as the spiritual, the metaphysical, or the
supernatural. The second section examines human relationships, first from a diachronic perspective and secondly from a synchronic one. The third examines two conceptual areas which relate most closely to Western notions of cosmology in an examination of the Yolnu notions of space and time. Finally the various themes of the thesis are drawn together in two ways. First in an examination of their application in a myth-ritual complex called Banumbirr (the Morning Star) and last of all in an analysis of the ways in which the Morning Star complex, together with the perceptions of relationships, of space, of time and of the supernatural combine to present a corporate model of a cosmos which, while seen to be not changing is structured in such a way as to be able to incorporate change within changelessness. This is an examination of cosmology in a changing world, presuppositions of changelessness, and the present Yolnu responses to change. In
examining these, it provides as a by-product, a foundation for the study of the
effects of future change on cosmology and presuppositions, and a means by which these may be assessed.
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Creighton, Sophie. "The Yolngu way : an ethnographic account of recent transformations in indigenous education at Yirrkala, Northeast Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/148435.
Full text
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Georg, Simone Elyse. "Karriyikarmerren rowk – everyone working together: Towards an intercultural approach to community safety in Gunbalanya, West Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/160664.
Full textAbstract:
Indigenous people worldwide face complex historical, social and
cultural circumstances that impair their ability to live in
safety. In Australia, two in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander women have experienced spousal violence, and Indigenous
children are seven times more likely than non-Indigenous children
to experience substantiated abuse or neglect. Indigenous
community safety is a complex concept that should be based on the
self-identified concerns of Indigenous people. Few studies thus
far have enquired how Indigenous Australians in rural and remote
areas visualise safety in their own neighbourhoods. This study
investigates how Kunwinjku Aboriginal people and service
providers understand and operationalise
community safety in Gunbalanya, Northern Territory. It enquires
about the values, behaviours, social norms and controls that
influence participants’ perceptions and experiences of harm and
safety. An intercultural and strengths-based approach is needed
to understand these multifaceted issues beyond simply measuring
crime and violence.
The study uses social disorganisation and ecological systems
theories to understand how community members and service
providers manage harmful behaviours and leverage values,
attitudes and beliefs which are perceived to enhance safety. This
mixed methods research involves long-term fieldwork, undertaken
from September 2015 to October 2017 where the majority of
residents are Indigenous. Data collection includes 19
semi-structured interviews and 55 questionnaires involving 78
Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants. This intercultural
concept of Indigenous community safety: 1) identifies
neighbourhood problems which need to be addressed for the
community to reduce harm and improve safety; 2) embraces the
strengths-based elements of kinship, law and ceremonies; and 3)
develops a practical approach to understand how services could
better enable positive behaviour change in Gunbalanya.
In Gunbalanya, harmful behaviours are multi-layered and
intimately interlinked. This concept of community safety has
three main dimensions: interpersonal and community harm and the
strengths-based values of Aboriginal Law. At the interpersonal
level, neighbourhood problems occur amongst close kin
relationships where children and elderly persons are most
vulnerable. Interpersonal neighbourhood problems include alcohol
and substance misuse, interpersonal and family violence,
gambling, mental health issues and dangerous driving. These
reoccurring patterns of behaviour at the interpersonal level have
flow-on effects across the community and articulate in broader
social issues. At the community level, distal neighbourhood
problems include youth delinquency and fractured parent-child
relationships, collective trauma, and intergenerational
transmission of violence.
Findings from this research suggest that future strategies for
addressing these challenges need to build on Kunwinjku values as
the foundation for enabling healthy and respectful relationships.
At the third level, the values and beliefs in Kunwinjku society
promote positive relationships through mutual respect including
listening, helping and sharing with each other. These values are
practiced through Aboriginal dispute resolution strategies and
have the potential for use in formal service delivery. However,
ongoing patterns of harmful behaviours are fracturing respect and
belief in Aboriginal Law as social norms and controls are less
able to manage delinquent and other harmful behaviours.
Strengths-based solutions are required to engage elders and young
people in a process of transgenerational learning according to
the practices of Aboriginal Law.
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Tacon, Paul. "From rainbow snakes to 'X-Ray' fish : the nature of the recent rock painting tradition of Western Arnhem Land, Australia." Phd thesis, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/10074.
Full textAbstract:
Painting on rock shelter walls has occurred in Western Arnhem Land for thousands of years and continued frequently until just over twenty years ago when the last major rock artist of the region passed away. Many of the most recent paintings were produced within the lifetime of Aboriginal elders living in the area today. Not only are the circumstances under Which some paintings we produced remembered but also myths and stories associated with these and older paintings are recalled. Much can be learned about the meaning, importance and production of rock art from these Aboriginal people and this is one of the few areas in the world where such information is still available.
In this study the most recent forms of rock painting are examined from both an archaeological and ethnographic perspective. In particular, paintings with internal or
'x-ray' features are scrutinized as it is these that are most visually striking for Europeans and hold the most meaning for contemporary Aborigines. It is argued that they are part of a much larger artistic tradition and that they developed in situ. Most, however, were produced in recent, freshwater times and changes through time are documented. Regional variants are also isolated and changes in the art are compared and contrasted with changes in the archaeological and environmental records of the region. Paintings of fish were found to be most frequent and
important and their relationship to metaphysical beliefs is discussed. Various species are identified and the artistic conventions used to distinguish them are explained. The importance of the Rainbow Snake and depictions of this Being is reviewed and it is argued that paintings in rock shelters played a fundamental role in the expression and affirmation of the traditional belief system. Some forms of painting had other functions as well, such as providing a 'historic' record of past events, and these are outlined. It is concluded that many paintings could be used for more than one purpose and that many levels of meaning could be encoded into some forms, especially those with internal detail. It is also concluded that it was important to distinguish species in the art as this allowed people to use the paintings to illustrate ideas, experiences or myths more effectively when story telling
For the more traditional Aboriginal people of Western Arnhem Land art is not only an expression of their belief but also is an expression of life. Art is a part of life and need not be distinguished from it. The paintings reveal complex notions about the nature of Aboriginal existence, experience and metaphysics as well as the economic and religious importance of various animals within it. By studying the art and examining how it is interrelated with myth, ritual and belief a more thorough understanding of abstract concepts such as the 'Dreaming' and 'Rainbowness' is attained. Furthermore, the importance of expressing Ancestral, 'Rainbow' power visually becomes apparent as it is this that adds life to creatures and potency to paintings .
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Thirion, Frank R. "Circular continuum : the depiction of historical time in the art of Paddy Fordham Wainburranga." Phd thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/148548.
Full text
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Trauernicht, PC. "The fire ecology of Callitris intratropica : tracing the legacy of Aboriginal fire management to inform contemporary responses to a conservation crisis on the Arnhem Plateau, northern Australia." Thesis, 2013. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17164/3/whole-Trauernicht-Thesis-2013.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
The decline of Northern Cypress Pine (Callitris intratropica) throughout the tropical savannas of northern Australia has become an iconic example of the ecosystem-wide effects of destructive fire regimes. The persistence of C. intratropica, a conspicuous, long-lived, obligate-seeding conifer with limited fire-tolerance, in one of the world’s most fire-prone ecosystems is ecologically puzzling. An appealing hypothesis is that habitat mosaics created by Aboriginal burning maintained enough long unburnt patches throughout the landscape for fire-sensitive plant species like C. intratropica to successfully recruit. However, widespread depopulation of Aboriginal lands within the past century across much of northern Australia has resulted in the shift from small-scale patch burning to landscape-scale wildfires. On the Arnhem Plateau, this change in fire pattern is widely blamed for current declines in C. intratropica as well as other species, notably native mammals and granivorous birds, which were able to persist for more than 50,000 years of continuous Aboriginal occupation. Within the last several years, in an attempt to simulate Aboriginal fire regimes, contemporary managers across much of the Arnhem Plateau have implemented programs consisting of frequent burning, largely from helicopters, in the early dry season when higher fuel moisture and cooler temperatures result in smaller, patchier fires. However, continued and dramatic species declines, especially in the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, urgently signals the need for some means by which to better direct and monitor current strategies. If, as the above hypothesis implies, the presence of C. intratropica in Australian savannas is a relict of past fire regimes, then maintaining the species in the landscape may provide a powerful benchmark for evaluating contemporary management and conservation efforts. Therefore, this research examines the utility of C. intratropica as a proactive indicator both of ecologically beneficial fire regimes and critical habitat for other fire-sensitive species by addressing four key components:
1) Exploring the role of human management in driving habitat heterogeneity in flammable ecosystems worldwide using fire simulations and the spatial scale of C. intratropica grove occurrence as a case study
2) Patch-level assessment of the interaction between C. intratropica groves and savanna fires and its implication for vegetation heterogeneity and diversity
3) Population modelling of C. intratropica to understand the role of patch dynamics in driving population stability under prevailing and hypothetical fire regimes
4) Landscape-scale survey of C. intratropica grove condition to examine patterns of habitat heterogeneity and plant diversity across differing management regimes in Kakadu National Park (KNP) and central Arnhem Land (CAL)
The results demonstrated that under low-intensity fire regimes, fire exclusion by C. intratropica groves effectively creates small-scale fire refugia, which have implications for both the persistence of C. intratropica populations as well as increasing the heterogeneity, diversity, and structural complexity of savanna vegetation. Disturbance and population models further implicated human intervention – specifically via the reduction of high intensity fires – in maintaining conditions that favour the establishment and persistence of C. intratropica, despite high fire frequencies in this savanna. Better overall C. intratropica grove condition in CAL provided evidence that continued Aboriginal fire management – and possibly the presence of feral water buffalo – supports greater savanna heterogeneity and diversity than in neighboring KNP.
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Blakeman, Bree Melanie. "An ethnography of emotion and morality : toward a local indigenous theory of value and social exchange on the Yolngu Homelands in remote North-East Arnhem Land." Phd thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/156153.
Full textAbstract:
Drawing on the key body of terms and concepts associated with affect and emotion in Yolnu-matha, this thesis explores the way Yolnu people of North-East Arnhem Land consider morality and value in everyday relations. This material suggests that Yolnu conceive of and consider persons to be fundamentally and necessarily interdependent rather than intrinsically autonomous. On a socio-centric level the relationship between groups in referred to as raki' (strings [of relatedness]). The normative ideal relationship between groups is when raki' are manapan-mirri (Joined, connected, linked [together to each other]), and the groups thus wangany-nura ([at] one). Proper practice and conduct is to malthum nhannu raki' (follow [up] the string), while upset, disequilibrium, or conflict is aid to threaten to gulk'thun nhannu raki' (cut or sever the string). This paralleled on an interpersonal level by nayanu (state or sense of feeling [among and between people]), the basic concept of affect/emotion and ground of moral evaluation. Balance and equilibrium is denoted by the normative ideal of nayanu wangany (one state or sense of feeling). Proper behaviour and moral conduct is said to be nayanu-yu (through nayanu), while moral transgressions register as nayanu wutthuna-mirri rom (law or manner of doing things that affronts or assaults the state of feeling). I analyse a series of case studies from different aspects of everyday life to show that this body of terms and concepts - and the shared understandings comprising them - motivate and shape forms and patterns of sociality and exchange in significant, culturally specific ways. This description and my findings depart from prevailing models of Aboriginal sociality and exchange in Australia, which are strongly influenced by approaches that foreground a tension between contrasting values of autonomy and relatedness. Rather than either autonomy or relatedness, it is in particular sate of the relationship between people that is significant for Yolnu; social equilibrium, balance, and value are relative to a particular, culturally recognised state of the relationship between people and groups, rather than contrasting values of autonomy and relatedness. This key point of difference allows for a unique analysis of Yolnu sociality and exchange. As with Kenneth Liberman's description of social consensus in the Western Desert, we see that the 'orderliness' that exists in Yolnu society is the collaborative product of a great deal of social and moral work. In what is effectively an example of non-State sociality - largely unmediated by the market and bureaucratic relations - the relative distribution of energy, intelligence and social concern is geared towards the realisation and maintenance of social order. The primary and paramount value is - nayanu wangany; nayanu wangany is the paramount value in both material and non-material exchange, and sociality is characterised by culturally specific strategies to maintain it. I conclude by arguing that the local interplay of forms, material conditions, and social relations of exchange can justly be considered a local theory of value and exchange in its own right. As such it sheds light upon prevailing anthropological models of exchange as well as current anthropological theories of value.
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Lee, Kim. "Heavy cannabis use in three remote Aboriginal communities in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia: patterns of use, natural history, depressive symptoms and the potential for community-driven interventions." Thesis, 2008. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/11729/2/02whole.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians, tobacco, alcohol and petrol misuse have received much attention. Cannabis, by contrast, has not been viewed as a major problem. However, since the 1990s it has become apparent that cannabis use is very common in some remote Indigenous communities in northern Australia. Significant associated health and social burdens are now being recognised.
Indigenous Australians, whether living in urban or rural settings, are more likely than other Australians to report cannabis use. This appears similar to recent reports of cannabis use in Indigenous populations in New Zealand, Canada and North America. Limited data are available to describe patterns of use among Indigenous Australians.
This thesis describes patterns and natural history of cannabis use in a five year followup study, and their cross-sectional association with depressive symptoms, in a community sample of adolescents and adults (aged 13–36 at baseline in 2001) in remote Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory (NT, Australia). It also considers the potential of three community-driven initiatives established to address cannabis and other substance use.
Data for this thesis are drawn from two research projects. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were adapted to suit the study setting, to meet the needs of research conducted in small and highly mobile groups, and across considerable language and cultural barriers.
Primary data collection methods include a structured survey, semi-structured interviews, review of data routinely collected by health and other agencies, and estimations of cannabis use in the communities by local Aboriginal Health Workers and key community informants (proxy respondents). Interviews were conducted wherever possible using a combination of plain English and the local Indigenous language. Interviews were typically conducted in a private location comfortable for participants. Local Indigenous research staff assisted in interviews for the longitudinal study of cannabis use.
Persistent cannabis use and dependence symptoms were found to be commonplace in this Indigenous cohort, raising concerns for the physical, social and psychiatric burden on these vulnerable communities. High prevalence of cannabis use appears to have persisted from baseline to five year follow-up (63%–60%; use in the previous 12 months). After five years, the majority reported continuing cannabis use, with continuing users aged thirty years (median). Past petrol sniffing among baseline cannabis users is also a key predictor of heavy cannabis use (≥ 6 cones, daily) at follow-up. Regular heavy cannabis use was found in almost 90% of users, and around 90% of the Indigenous users report symptoms of cannabis dependence (DSM-IVR).
Regular and heavy patterns of cannabis use that are predominant in these study communities also occur alongside poor mental health and severe disadvantage. In a cross-sectional study, heavy cannabis users were found to be four times more likely than the remainder of the sample to report moderate–severe depressive symptoms (on a modified Patient Health Questionnaire-9) after adjusting for age, sex and other
substance use.
What might be done to address the substantial health and social burdens related to cannabis misuse in these remote Indigenous communities? Broad community-wide preventive measures and programs that provide youth diversion from court and prison offer enhanced youth resilience and connectedness in remote Aboriginal communities, and alternatives to substance use.
Treatment programs for chronic cannabis users are urgently needed, along with locally developed preventive programs to raise community awareness of the harms associated with cannabis and other substance use. Such programs would need to incorporate local Indigenous language and cultural concepts, build capacity of local Indigenous professionals, be guided by Indigenous residents, and be founded on strong partnerships between a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders.
A holistic approach is needed to address substance misuse instead of tackling each substance separately, and to address mental illness and the social determinants of poor health. Potential programs need to draw on community ideas and understanding of the problems being faced. Solutions imposed without reference to local context have little chance of success or longevity. The one-size-fits-all approach assumes homogeneity, but what works for one community is unlikely to be suitable for mass rollout. Ultimately tackling cannabis and other forms of substance misuse in remote settings will depend on working with communities to create opportunities for social development, and continuing education, training and employment in adolescents and young adults.
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Fogarty, William. "'Learning through country : competing knowledge systems and place based pedagogy'." Phd thesis, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/11712.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis exposes the dichotomies and binaries that have characterised theoretical
and political discourses in the provision of remote Indigenous education in Australia.
The research finds that ideological tensions and over simplified notions of
biculturalism in Indigenous affairs have dominated policy settings, resulting in
compromised pedagogy at the classroom level. The research also finds that a
structural disconnect exists in remote Indigenous education between schools,
community and work at a local level. This disconnect is perpetuated by a failure of
remote educational provision to develop pedagogic frameworks that are able to be
inclusive of Indigenous knowledge and remote Indigenous development aspiration.
The thesis demonstrates that remote Indigenous developments, and their associated
employment roles, have specific pedagogic needs that cannot be met solely through
generic pedagogy, nor can they be met through the provision of education based
solely in ‘culturalism’. Rather, the research shows that there is a need for pedagogic
frameworks that can cater for inherent tensions and complementarities in the
transmission of knowledge. This is based in a notion that all knowledge is contested
and, as such, it is the way that pedagogy is designed and which sets of knowledge are
valued that ultimately decides what is learned. Towards this end, an analysis of the
knowledge foundations of a remote Indigenous development is used to generate a
model that can be used to assess educational and training requirements.
Through detailed ethnographic and qualitative data, this thesis also provides an
analysis of the social, physical and economic characteristics of one of the largest
remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Maningrida in Western
Arnhem Land. This is then used to develop a ‘pedagogic device’ that can link ‘place
based pedagogy’ with generic pedagogy. Finding that ‘Country’ forms a basis for
social organisation and knowledge transfer in the region, the thesis describes the
development of a localised ‘Learning through Country’ program which uses land as a
‘pedagogic device’. The thesis then moves from ‘Learning through Country’ to
development and employment in ‘working on Country’ and ‘caring for Country’
programs. This section of the thesis analyses the development of Indigenous land and
sea management programs in the Northern Territory. It also details their place in remote employment, as well as a quantification of activity and a training history of a
large Indigenous land and sea management program. Finally, the preceding research
is combined with research on land and learning models of education in the NT to
create an applied pedagogic framework that has the potential to provide space for
Indigenous knowledge in learning, as well as mediating the dichotomies in pedagogic
provision for remote Indigenous students. Ultimately, this framework has the ability
to reconnect remote Indigenous education with local communities and work.
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Venkataya, Beatrice. "Working in partnership : exploring the medicinal and therapeutic potential of traditional bush products made by the Yirralka Miyalk (Women’s) Rangers (YMR) of Laynhapuy Homelands, Australia." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:49845.
Full textAbstract:
Collaborative community-university partnerships are an ethical approach to conduct research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, to achieve outcomes relevant to these communities. In 2016, a research project was conducted in collaboration with, and directed by, the Yirralka Miyalk (Women’s) Rangers (YMR) of Laynhapuy Homelands, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia and the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) at Western Sydney University. As a continuation of this collaboration, the research documented in this thesis investigates the bush products manufactured by YMR and the related traditional medicinal plants used to produce them- Eucalyptus tetrodonta, Melaleuca dealbata and Litsea glutinosa through a mixed method research strategy. Apart of the participatory action research and community-university partnerships framework adopted for this research, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with YMR members and Laynhapuy staff to identify focus areas for further study. The medicinal and therapeutic value of E. tetrodonta, M. dealbata and L. glutinosa were identified as areas of interest and guided the subsequent research reported in this thesis. To assess the medicinal and therapeutic value of the three species, qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative methods were employed. Through the observations made in this thesis, and through continued collaboration following participatory action research (PAR) frameworks and mixed method research, it is hoped that the scientific evidence gained will continue to support the YMR members and their bush products.
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Ligtermoet, Emma. "People, place and practice on the margins in a changing climate: Sustaining freshwater customary harvesting in coastal floodplain country of the Alligator Rivers Region, Northern Territory of Australia." Phd thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/164233.
Full textAbstract:
Human-environment interactions will be profoundly affected by
anthropogenic climate change. Coastal communities, dependent on
freshwater ecosystems for their livelihoods and cultural
practices, are likely to be seriously impacted by rising sea
level. For communities already subject to marginalising forces of
remoteness, poverty or the legacies of colonisation, climate
change impacts will likely compound existing stressors. The
freshwater floodplains of the Alligator Rivers Region in the
Northern Territory, spanning Kakadu National Park and part of
West Arnhem Land, represent such a place. This area is at risk
from sea level rise, particularly saltwater intrusion, while also
home to Aboriginal Australians continuing to practice customary
or subsistence harvesting based on freshwater resources.
In seeking to support sustainable adaptation to climate change in
this context, this thesis examines Indigenous people’s
experiences, in living memory, of responding to past and
persisting social-ecological change. A place-based, contextual
framing approach was used to examine vulnerability and adaptive
capacity. Through semi-structured interviews, trips on country,
cultural resource mapping and archival work, contemporary
patterns of freshwater resource use and Aboriginal people’s
perceptions of changes to their freshwater hunting, fishing and
gathering activities (collectively termed ‘harvesting’) were
examined. Qualitative models were used to conceptualise factors
influencing an individual’s ability to engage in freshwater
customary harvesting and the determinants shaping adaptive
capacity for customary harvesting.
The social-ecological drivers of change in freshwater harvesting
practices raised by respondents included: existing threats from
introduced animals and plants, altered floodplain fire regimes
and the ‘bust then boom’ in saltwater crocodile population
following recovery from commercial hunting. These all had
implications for sustaining customary harvesting practices
including restricting access and the transmission of knowledge.
Impacts driven by the introduced cane toad, invasive para grass
and saltwater crocodile population change, represent examples of
solastalgia, particularly for women’s harvesting practices. In
addition to environmental conditions, determinants of adaptive
capacity of customary harvesting included; mobility on country-
particularly supported through on country livelihoods and
outstations, social networks facilitating access and knowledge
sharing, health and well-being and inter-generational knowledge
transmission. Past experience of saltwater intrusion facilitated
by feral water buffalo in Kakadu was examined through the lens of
social learning, as a historical analogue for future sea level
rise. These experiences were shown to influence contemporary
perceptions of risk and adaptive preferences for future sea level
rise. Customary harvesting was also found to offer unique
opportunities to improve remote Indigenous development outcomes
across diverse sectors.
To build adaptive capacity supporting freshwater customary
harvesting practices in this context it will be essential to;
understand historical trajectories of social-ecological change,
recognise the potential for diversity within groups- including a
gendered analysis of adaptive capacity, address existing
social-ecological stressors and foster knowledge collaborations
for supporting knowledge transmission, the co-production of
knowledge and sustaining social networks. Facilitating a social
learning environment will be particularly crucial in supporting
local autonomy, leadership and experimental learning, and is
particularly beneficial in jointly managed protected area
contexts. Most importantly, incorporating local Indigenous
knowledge, values, perceptions of change and risk into
locally-developed adaptation strategies will be essential in
developing more culturally relevant and thus sustainable,
adaptation pathways.