'Led by four Aboriginal lawmen, Secret and Sacred Pathways chronicles a journey into North Western Australia to uncover some of the oldest figurative paintings on the continent, known as Gwion. The ancient rock art illustrates a distinct society whose customs are still celebrated today. With an enlightening text and lavish illustrations, Secret and Sacred Pathways studies the significance of these works, allowing the reader to take a trip through history.' (Publication summary)
'This is a remarkable book. Perhaps for the first time, a major body of rock art is documented in the words of the people in whose tradition it was created. Ngarjno, Ungudman , Banggal and Nyawarra, senior elders (munnumburra) of the Ngarinyin people of northwestern Kimberley of Western Australia, worked with filmmaker Jeff Doring who took the sumptuous photographs, associated the edited munnumburra songs and narratives with the images and provides a small number of linking observations which place the words and pictures into a wider context. Banggal is better known to rock-art students and others by another name, that is not used here, for his involvement in the discussions about the repainting of rock art (Ward 1997). (Introduction)
'This is a remarkable book. Perhaps for the first time, a major body of rock art is documented in the words of the people in whose tradition it was created. Ngarjno, Ungudman , Banggal and Nyawarra, senior elders (munnumburra) of the Ngarinyin people of northwestern Kimberley of Western Australia, worked with filmmaker Jeff Doring who took the sumptuous photographs, associated the edited munnumburra songs and narratives with the images and provides a small number of linking observations which place the words and pictures into a wider context. Banggal is better known to rock-art students and others by another name, that is not used here, for his involvement in the discussions about the repainting of rock art (Ward 1997). (Introduction)
