This is a comprehensive ethnography of the Australian Aborigines of Northern Australia, particularly the group known as the Kakadu, and the tribes of Melville Island. This is one of about half a dozen ethnographies written before the destruction of the Australian traditional cultures. This book is well written and, for the most part, presented from a non-ethnocentric (non-judgemental) point of view, which sets it apart from most of the other available public domain materal on this topic. As far as material on the traditions of these tribes, this is the only source text which we will ever have. Shortly after this was written, the traditional life of these tribes was devastated by the impact of European culture. This is a priceless record of a vanished stone-age civilization.

Due to space considerations, I have only been able to include a few of the illustrations; the complete list can be viewed at the link at the top of each page labeled Images. In addition, I have refrained from posting images of people, ceremonies or sacred objects from the original book, in deference to modern Aboriginal protocol. I have included a set of bark drawings in the 'X-Ray' style. This unique Aboriginal style is generally considered one of the most sophisticated genres of representational art ever devised.

This is a comprehensive ethnography of the Australian Aborigines of Northern Australia, particularly the group known as the Kakadu, and the tribes of Melville Island. This is one of about half a dozen ethnographies written before the destruction of the Australian traditional cultures. This book is well written and, for the most part, presented from a non-ethnocentric (non-judgemental) point of view, which sets it apart from most of the other available public domain materal on this topic. As far as material on the traditions of these tribes, this is the only source text which we will ever have. Shortly after this was written, the traditional life of these tribes was devastated by the impact of European culture. This is a priceless record of a vanished stone-age civilization.

Due to space considerations, I have only been able to include a few of the illustrations; the complete list can be viewed at the link at the top of each page labeled Images. In addition, I have refrained from posting images of people, ceremonies or sacred objects from the original book, in deference to modern Aboriginal protocol. I have included a set of bark drawings in the 'X-Ray' style. This unique Aboriginal style is generally considered one of the most sophisticated genres of representational art ever devised.

This is a comprehensive ethnography of the Australian Aborigines of Northern Australia, particularly the group known as the Kakadu, and the tribes of Melville Island. This is one of about half a dozen ethnographies written before the destruction of the Australian traditional cultures. This book is well written and, for the most part, presented from a non-ethnocentric (non-judgemental) point of view, which sets it apart from most of the other available public domain materal on this topic. As far as material on the traditions of these tribes, this is the only source text which we will ever have. Shortly after this was written, the traditional life of these tribes was devastated by the impact of European culture. This is a priceless record of a vanished stone-age civilization.

Due to space considerations, I have only been able to include a few of the illustrations; the complete list can be viewed at the link at the top of each page labeled Images. In addition, I have refrained from posting images of people, ceremonies or sacred objects from the original book, in deference to modern Aboriginal protocol. I have included a set of bark drawings in the 'X-Ray' style. This unique Aboriginal style is generally considered one of the most sophisticated genres of representational art ever devised.