Cirrus@Austlit

'This paper concludes a survey of the ethnographic work of Amalie Dietrich in Australia, the main findings of which appeared in an earlier issue of this journal (Sumner 1993a).'  (Publication abstract)

'The publication of the Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia was sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, the New South Wales Department of School Education, the New South Wales Aboriginal Education Unit and the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. It was winner of the inaugural Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Award in 1994.'  (Introduction)

Barbara Henson's biography is aptly titled: Pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht undoubtedly was 'a straight-out man'. The author traces Albrecht's life from his birth to German parents in Planawice, Poland, in 1894 to his death in Adelaide, Australia, ninety years later. His parents' life as farmers, his lameness from the age of twelve which meant that he spent much time reading Lutheran tracts, and his war service as a stretcher-bearer, all undoubtedly influenced his life as a Lutheran pastor in Central Australia. He was a steadfast man, dependable, brave, a staunch Lutheran and also, as one of the Devil's own flock stated, a rarity amongst the Lutherans at Hermannsburg mission in that he could mix with anyone and had a sense of humour (pers. comm., the late Bryan Bowman ; also p p 119-20). Bryan considered that it was Albrecht's war service that had given him a strong sense of the strengths and weaknesses of human nature, and contributed to his tolerance and sense-of humour.'  (Introduction)

The main title, Bunji, refers not just to the black rights newsletter founded by Bill Day, but also recalls the term used especially by Aborigines for a mate. Although mateship may have taken on something of a taint by now, this is in part a story of mateship in which one man shows that he can make a difference. This is a personal account of the struggle for Aboriginal land rights in Darwin in the 1970s and into the 80s.'  (Introduction)

'Fans of Ruby Langford Ginibi will not like everything I am going to say about her third book, My Bundjalung People, but she is 'an established author' now and her work demands more than a few patronising comments from a 'white' (actually more of a pinky-purple) writer and historian.' (Introduction)

'The Wizard of the Wire presents a history of Con Colleano (pronounced Ka-lee-no), one of the world's greatest circus artists. Mark St Leon, a circus historian, has produced an impressive work that is well illustrated with photographs, circus programs, sketches and handbills. The text is interspersed with reminiscences from Colleano himself, from his wife, from other family members, and from associates in the industry.' (Introduction)

'About fifty years ago, Ion Idriess wrote a book about cattle and the wide open spaces of the outback. He called it Cattle Camp. It was fiction. In 1994, Herb Wharton wrote a book in a similar vein. He called it Cattle Camp; but there is no fiction here. Rather, it is a book about the real world of drovers and their cattle. The tales of these Aboriginal stockmen and stockwomen are sometimes sad and sometimes humorous, but always entertaining. For instance, it is a little-known fact that the only Japanese prisoner-of-war taken on Australian soil was, in fact, taken by an unarmed Aborigine!' (Introduction)

'John Muk Muk Burke was born in Narrandera, New South Wales, in 1946. His mother was Wiradjuri and his father was Irish. He left school, aged 15, and worked at several jobs before entering the Auckland Teachers College in New Zealand in 1967. In 1992 he joined the Centre for Aboriginal and Islander Studies at the Northern Territory University, as lecturer in history and English literature'  (Introduction)

'This book tells of the life of Daniel Matthews (1837-1902), founder of the Maloga Aboriginal mission, situated on the Victorian side of the Murray River, in the second half of the nineteenth century.' (Introduction)

'The Darug and Their Neighbours presents a general history of the Darug people and their immediate neighbours—the Dharawal and Gundungurra peoples of the greater Sydney region. Four families from this region are the focus of the book, in an effort to demonstrate that there are many Darug descendants still living in the Sydney area. The book has three clear parts: a general historical introduction (comprising 144 pages); descendant charts of four families (62 pages); and dictionaries of the Darug, Kuringgai and Gundungurra languages (54 pages).'  (Introduction)

'Jack Bohemia, Nyibayarri, was born around the turn of the century near the Old Bohemia Downs homestead, about 100 km east of Fitzroy Crossing in the southern Kimberley, Western Australia. He passed away peacefully in the Numbala Nunga nursing home in Derby on 26 August 1994, following a stroke. From the age of about five or six until almost forty, Jack Bohemia worked with cattle on Bohemia Downs station, rising to the rank of head stockman. He participated in, and ultimately led, a number of droving trips to Derby and Broome; on one occasion, he even went to Katherine with a mob of horses— and from there to Darwin on the old train, on holiday. He gained a reputation as an expert stockman, and many Gooniyandi and Bunuba men remember him as their teacher, who taught them about stockwork—and/or the Law.' (Introduction)

'On 13 October 1994, David Burrumarra died at Elcho Island in the Northern Territory. He was a leader whose life and work have had a marked impact on the history of Arnhem Land.'  (Introduction)

'This is the first coffee-table book about a Central Australian artist. It is superbly illustrated with photographs of his works, contains a further range of interesting photographs, maps and sketches, and altogether is a fine publication. At $80 it is not a cheap book, but it compares favourably with similar works, and is more substantial than most'  (Introduction)