Aboriginal Religions in Australia: An Anthology of Recent Writings

by Morphy,Howard; Charlesworth,Max

• ISBN13: 9780754651284
• ISBN10: 0754651282
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Over the last 25 years there has been an explosion of interest in the Aboriginal religions of Australia and this anthology provides a variety of recent writings, by a wide range of scholars. Australian Aboriginal Religions are probably the oldest extant religious systems. Over some 50,000 years they have coped with change and re-invented themselves in an astonishingly creative way. The Dreaming, the mythical time when the Ancestor Spirits shaped the territories of the Aborigines and laid down a moral and ritual law for their occupants, is the fundamental religious reality. It is the basis of the Aborigines's view of their land or country, kinship relationships, ritual and art. However, the Dreaming is not a static principle since it is interpreted in different ways, as in the extraordinary movement in contemporary indigenous painting, and in attempts at an accommodation with Christianity.The contributions of anthropologists, cultural historians, philosophers of religion and others are included in this anthology which not only guides readers through the literature but also ensures this still largely inaccessible material is available to a wider range of readers and non-specialist students and academics.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations, Maps and Colour Plates	viii
List of Contributors	x
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction	1	(28)
Max Charlesworth
PART 1: REVALUATIONS
Introduction	29	(2)
Max Charlesworth
Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen	31	(14)
John Mulvaney
High Gods	45	(16)
L.R. Hiatt
Stanner on Aboriginal Religion	61	(20)
Ian Keen
PART 2: RELIGIOUS BUSINESS
Introduction	79	(2)
Howard Morphy
``Women's Business'', What is It?	81	(12)
Diane Bell
Big Businesswomen	93	(22)
Francoise Dussart
PART 3: SACRED PLACES
Introduction	113	(2)
Francoise Dussart
Do Places Appear?	115	(16)
Francesca Merlan
Sacred Geography	131	(10)
Marcia Langton
Myth and History	141	(18)
Peter Sutton
PART 4: ART AND RELIGION
Introduction	157	(2)
Francoise Dussart
Yolngu Art and the Creativity of the Inside	159	(12)
Howard Morphy
Linda Syddick on Longing	171	(14)
Fred Myers
The Enigma of Emily Kngwarray	185	(10)
Jenny Green
PART 5: DIFFERENT DREAMINGS
Introduction	193	(2)
Howard Morphy
Aboriginal Religion Today	195	(10)
John Morton
Life and Land in Aboriginal Australia	205	(12)
Deborah Bird Rose
Creation in the Kimberley	217	(10)
David Mowaljarlai
PART 6: RELIGIONS AND LAW
Introduction	225	(2)
Max Charlesworth
Land Rights: The Religious Factor	227	(20)
Frank Brennan
The Hindmarsh Bridge Affair and Secret Knowledge	247	(32)
Robert Tonkinson
PART 7: RELIGIOUS EXCHANGES
Introduction	277	(2)
Max Charlesworth
Faith and Fear in Aboriginal Christianity	279	(18)
Fiona Magowan
Islam and Australian Aborigines	297	(22)
Ian McIntosh
Index	319