Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia
Historical and Cultural Relationships
By: Philip A Clarke
The physical, historical and cultural relationships that Aboriginal people have had with birds.
Australia is home to many distinctive species of birds, and Aboriginal peoples have developed close alliances with them over the millennia of their custodianship of this country. Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia: Historical and Cultural Relationships provides a review of the broad physical, historical and cultural relationships that Aboriginal people have had with the Australian avifauna. + Full description
This book aims to raise awareness of the alternative bodies of ornithological knowledge that reside outside of Western science. It describes the role of birds as totemic ancestors and spirit beings, and explores Aboriginal bird nomenclature, foraging techniques and the use of avian materials to make food, medicine and artefacts. Through a historical perspective, this book examines the gaps between knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples and Western science, to encourage greater collaboration and acknowledgment in the future.
Cultural sensitivity
Readers are warned that there may be words, descriptions and terms used in this book that are culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. While this information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided by the author in a historical context.
This publication may also contain quotations, terms and annotations that reflect the historical attitude of the original author or that of the period in which the item was written, and may be considered inappropriate today.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that this publication may contain the names and images of people who have passed away.
- Short descriptionReviews
From the Prologue:
"Since the dawn of time our people have had a spiritual, environmental and cultural connection to all birds and their habitats. Whether it be through our Ngartji [ngaitji] system which defines our roles and responsibilities of caring for Country and all in it, our storylines and songlines, as a food source, as a material source or as a transmitter of messages – birds are and have always been a part of our daily rituals and wellbeing. This book encompasses all that is our connection to Country and self."
Mark Koolmatrie, Ngarrindjeri Elder
From the Foreword:
"While there are complexities around Indigenous knowledge and its documentation, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of Indigenous peoples and their relationships with Australian birds."
Dr John J. Bradley, Associate Professor, Acting Head Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University, Victoria
"With its exploration of Indigenous knowledge of birds, this book should help inform future research in ornithology, anthropology and ethnoscience, and will be of interest to everyone who has an interest in the Australian landscape, ecology and it’s avian inhabitants."
Wildlife Health Australia, 20 March 2023
"I found the book to be an excellent piece of work. The author writes very clearly. He provides quotations from the literature of diverse disciplines, not only anthropology and ethnobiology, to substantiate and illustrate the points he is making. He also refers in some detail (and very usefully) to insights that he gained from his own anthropological fieldwork over the decades"
David McDonald, Canberra Bird Notes 48(1) (2023): 59-62, July 2023
"This book is a valuable synthesis of the ethno-ornithology of Aboriginal Australia"
Daniel A Villar, Journal of Anthropological Society of Oxford, 2023
"This is a very welcome publication. Anthropologist Philip Clarke has produced a wide-ranging survey of the historical and cultural relationships between Australia’s aboriginal peoples and its distinctive avifauna."
Jeremy Mynott, Association of Field Ornithologists BookReview, 12 September 2023
Details
Paperback | April 2023 | $ 59.99ISBN: 9781486315970 | 344 pages | 245 x 170 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
B&W photographs, Colour photographs, Illustrations
ePDF | April 2023
ISBN: 9781486315987
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
ePUB | April 2023
ISBN: 9781486315994
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers
Features
- Provides a historical review of the cultural roles of birds and their importance to Aboriginal peoples in Australia.
- Explores Indigenous knowledge, to inform future research in ornithology, anthropology and ethnoscience.
- Includes a Prologue by Mark Koolmatrie, Ngarrindjeri Elder, and a Foreword by Dr John J. Bradley, Acting Head Monash Indigenous Studies Centre.
- Illustrated with photos taken by the author over 40 years of fieldwork.
Contents
ForewordPrologue
Acknowledgments
Cultural sensitivity warning
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Birds as ancestors
Chapter 3: Birds as creators
Chapter 4: Birds and the spirit world
Chapter 5: Bird nomenclature
Chapter 6: Early hunting and gathering
Chapter 7: Birds working with people
Colour plates
Chapter 8: Food and medicine from birds
Chapter 9: Material culture
Chapter 10: Conclusion
References
Index
View the full table of contents (PDF, 67 KB)
Authors
Philip A. Clarke is a consultant anthropologist working in native title and Aboriginal heritage. With an academic background in both science and anthropology, his research interests are focused on the ethnosciences, in particular Australian ethnobiology and ethnoastronomy. He is also the co-author of Aboriginal Biocultural Knowledge in South-eastern Australia.
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