Southern Anthropology - a History of Fison and Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai

by Gardner, Helen; McConvell, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9781137463807
• ISBN10: 1137463805
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-09-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

From far-flung sites in Australia and the Pacific Islands, Lorimer Fison and A. W. Howitt produced the landmark study, Kamilaroi and Kurnai (1880). Their book revealed the complexity of Aboriginal and Pacific Island societies and changed the course of anthropology in the early years of the discipline. Using archival sources and an innovative approach, Southern Anthropology explores the research, writing and reception of Kamilaroi and Kurnai. Historical chapters track Fison and Howitt's collection and analysis of anthropological material in the context of raging debates about the evolution of humans. This narrative is interspersed with an introduction to the kinship and social organisation of Aboriginal and Pacific Island people that highlight the enduring value of Fison and Howitt's methods and the resurgence of their questions in contemporary anthropology.
Southern Anthropology is designed to be read across disciplinary boundaries.

Author Biography

Helen Gardner is a historian of the nineteenth Pacific Islands and Australia with a focus on Christian Mission and the history of anthropology in the region. She has recently extended her research to the role of the churches and missions in the history of the decolonisation of the Pacific Islands.

Patrick McConvell is an anthropologist and linguist with particular interests in Indigenous Australia, interdisciplinary prehistory and kinship. He is engaged with the ARC Discovery Project 'Kin and Skin' (AustKin).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. The Publication Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai
2. Morgan Imaging Kinship
3. The Unity Of World Kinship: A Southern Perspective
4. The Apocalypse In The South: Fison In Victoria And Fiji
5. Twice Converted: Fison's Epiphany
6. Cracks In The Theory: The Problems Of The Pacific
7. Fison's Fiji Discovery And The Interpretation Of Kinship History
8. Seeing Gamilaraay
9. Evidence And Anomalies From Australian And Pacific Sites
10. Howitt And Tulaba
11. The Turn From Kin To Skin
12. Time, Human Difference And Evolution In Oceania
13. Pen To Paper: Writing Kamilaroi And Kurnai
14. Kamilaroi And Kurnai: The Content And The Form
15. The Anthropology Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai
16. The British Response To Kamilaroi And Kurnai
17. The Legacy Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai In The Anthropology Of Kinship
18. Conclusion