Desert People: A Study of the Walbiri Aborigines of Central Australia by M J Meggitt

Book Description

Secondhand. Poor condition. Substantial wear to book corners and edges. Foxing and sunnng to foredges. Tail spine is missing. The binding is sufficient to keep the book together. A readable but not collectable copy.

Details the social and cultural systems of the Warlpiri (Walbiri) people, based on over 18 months of fieldwork conducted between 1953 and 1958.

The book provides a comprehensive look at the Warlbiri society, including the kinship system, and describes a way of life that, at the time, remained largely autonomous despite increasing contact with European settlers.

Includes documentation of contacts with European explorers, the impact of pastoral settlement, and the establishment of government settlements like Yuendumu. Includes descriptions of childbirth, initiation rites (such as circumcision), funerary practices, and traditional mechanisms for social control and law; a study of the Tanami Desert landscape; and a detailed table of local flora with their language and Latin names.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers, please note that this book may contain descriptions and/or images of people who have passed away.

All profits from the sale of this book go to the Busselton Family History Society.