Land of Promises: Aborigines and Development in the East Kimberley edited by H C Coombs, H McCann, H Ross and N M Williams

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Previous owner has signed inside page. Interior and binding are still very good.

Land of Promises is the report of the East Kimberley Impact Assessment Project conducted between 1985 and 1988 in response to requests from local Aboriginal communities for assistance in dealing with economic and social change arising from resource development.

Pastoral settlement, the 1880s gold rush, the Ord River Irrigation Scheme, the Argyle Diamond Mine and tourism all promised riches to the East Kimberley. This book presents a strong case for questioning belief in that promise and calls for new directions in national policies in Aboriginal affairs. It argues that development should be based on Aboriginal people and on the principles of sustainability to maintain the quality of the environment and the continued availability of its resources.

For Aboriginal people, the East Kimberley is not a land of promises but a land of promises, broken and forgotten. (back cover)