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Botanists, Aborigines and native plants on the Queensland frontier

  • Marcia Langton
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Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country
This chapter is in the book Land and Language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country

Abstract

By the 1920s, it was well understood by missionaries, scientists and botanists that the spread of grazing and agriculture into the interior posed the final threat to the remaining Aboriginal populations. Botanists were also aware that Aboriginal economies were collapsing with the increasing competition for the plants which formed the staples of Aboriginal diet, and that the cattle herds were in large part responsible for this economic disaster. This paper examines the work of these botanists for an ethnohistorical understanding of the demise of Aboriginal economic activities. Their records represents a rich record of the nature of the Aboriginal plant food economy and a window on the competition of the most educated colonists for the resources that would support ever-expanding herds of cattle and food for the colonists and the English market.

Abstract

By the 1920s, it was well understood by missionaries, scientists and botanists that the spread of grazing and agriculture into the interior posed the final threat to the remaining Aboriginal populations. Botanists were also aware that Aboriginal economies were collapsing with the increasing competition for the plants which formed the staples of Aboriginal diet, and that the cattle herds were in large part responsible for this economic disaster. This paper examines the work of these botanists for an ethnohistorical understanding of the demise of Aboriginal economic activities. Their records represents a rich record of the nature of the Aboriginal plant food economy and a window on the competition of the most educated colonists for the resources that would support ever-expanding herds of cattle and food for the colonists and the English market.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface and acknowledgements vii
  4. General maps ix
  5. Land and language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country 1
  6. Appendix 27
  7. Reconstructions
  8. Connecting Thaypanic 39
  9. Regions without borders 61
  10. The Flinders Islands and Cape Melville people in history 85
  11. Fission, fusion and syncretism 105
  12. World views
  13. Groups, country and personhood on the upper Wenlock River, Cape York Peninsula 139
  14. Hyponymy and the structure of Kuuk Thaayorre kinship 159
  15. Possession in Kuku-Thaypan through a comparative lens 179
  16. Correlation of textual and spatial reference 199
  17. Contacts and contrasts
  18. Botanists, Aborigines and native plants on the Queensland frontier 221
  19. ‘There is no truth whatever as regards any Aboriginal being flogged by the Police’ 241
  20. Multiple views of paradise 263
  21. Shared country, different stories 285
  22. Transformations
  23. Born, signed and named 305
  24. The problem of ‘tribal names’ in eastern Australia 337
  25. Going forward holding back 361
  26. Same but different 383
  27. The story of Old Man Frank 409
  28. Repatriations
  29. On the edges of their memories 435
  30. Making gambarr 455
  31. Index of places 481
  32. Index of languages, language families and groups 483
  33. General index 487
https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.18.11lan

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface and acknowledgements vii
  4. General maps ix
  5. Land and language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country 1
  6. Appendix 27
  7. Reconstructions
  8. Connecting Thaypanic 39
  9. Regions without borders 61
  10. The Flinders Islands and Cape Melville people in history 85
  11. Fission, fusion and syncretism 105
  12. World views
  13. Groups, country and personhood on the upper Wenlock River, Cape York Peninsula 139
  14. Hyponymy and the structure of Kuuk Thaayorre kinship 159
  15. Possession in Kuku-Thaypan through a comparative lens 179
  16. Correlation of textual and spatial reference 199
  17. Contacts and contrasts
  18. Botanists, Aborigines and native plants on the Queensland frontier 221
  19. ‘There is no truth whatever as regards any Aboriginal being flogged by the Police’ 241
  20. Multiple views of paradise 263
  21. Shared country, different stories 285
  22. Transformations
  23. Born, signed and named 305
  24. The problem of ‘tribal names’ in eastern Australia 337
  25. Going forward holding back 361
  26. Same but different 383
  27. The story of Old Man Frank 409
  28. Repatriations
  29. On the edges of their memories 435
  30. Making gambarr 455
  31. Index of places 481
  32. Index of languages, language families and groups 483
  33. General index 487
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