Shared country, different stories
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David Trigger
Abstract
In 2000 Bruce Rigsby presented a seminar titled ‘Not Indigenous, merely born here’, borrowing from Australian poet Les Murray’s verses. The issues canvassed the application of the concept of nativeness in biology as well as in anthropology and the particular circumstances of this question in the post-settler society of Australia. Around the same time, Rigsby provided an expert opinion in an American legal case about skeletal remains that raised related matters. This chapter presents my own reflections on indigenous identities and overlapping shared histories in the Gulf Country of northern Australia. The vehicle for the discussion is an innovative experimental workshop that brought together writers and locals to consider issues of ancestry, story telling and senses of belonging in the Gulf Country.
Abstract
In 2000 Bruce Rigsby presented a seminar titled ‘Not Indigenous, merely born here’, borrowing from Australian poet Les Murray’s verses. The issues canvassed the application of the concept of nativeness in biology as well as in anthropology and the particular circumstances of this question in the post-settler society of Australia. Around the same time, Rigsby provided an expert opinion in an American legal case about skeletal remains that raised related matters. This chapter presents my own reflections on indigenous identities and overlapping shared histories in the Gulf Country of northern Australia. The vehicle for the discussion is an innovative experimental workshop that brought together writers and locals to consider issues of ancestry, story telling and senses of belonging in the Gulf Country.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- General maps ix
- Land and language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country 1
- Appendix 27
-
Reconstructions
- Connecting Thaypanic 39
- Regions without borders 61
- The Flinders Islands and Cape Melville people in history 85
- Fission, fusion and syncretism 105
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World views
- Groups, country and personhood on the upper Wenlock River, Cape York Peninsula 139
- Hyponymy and the structure of Kuuk Thaayorre kinship 159
- Possession in Kuku-Thaypan through a comparative lens 179
- Correlation of textual and spatial reference 199
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Contacts and contrasts
- Botanists, Aborigines and native plants on the Queensland frontier 221
- ‘There is no truth whatever as regards any Aboriginal being flogged by the Police’ 241
- Multiple views of paradise 263
- Shared country, different stories 285
-
Transformations
- Born, signed and named 305
- The problem of ‘tribal names’ in eastern Australia 337
- Going forward holding back 361
- Same but different 383
- The story of Old Man Frank 409
-
Repatriations
- On the edges of their memories 435
- Making gambarr 455
- Index of places 481
- Index of languages, language families and groups 483
- General index 487
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- General maps ix
- Land and language in Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf Country 1
- Appendix 27
-
Reconstructions
- Connecting Thaypanic 39
- Regions without borders 61
- The Flinders Islands and Cape Melville people in history 85
- Fission, fusion and syncretism 105
-
World views
- Groups, country and personhood on the upper Wenlock River, Cape York Peninsula 139
- Hyponymy and the structure of Kuuk Thaayorre kinship 159
- Possession in Kuku-Thaypan through a comparative lens 179
- Correlation of textual and spatial reference 199
-
Contacts and contrasts
- Botanists, Aborigines and native plants on the Queensland frontier 221
- ‘There is no truth whatever as regards any Aboriginal being flogged by the Police’ 241
- Multiple views of paradise 263
- Shared country, different stories 285
-
Transformations
- Born, signed and named 305
- The problem of ‘tribal names’ in eastern Australia 337
- Going forward holding back 361
- Same but different 383
- The story of Old Man Frank 409
-
Repatriations
- On the edges of their memories 435
- Making gambarr 455
- Index of places 481
- Index of languages, language families and groups 483
- General index 487
