In the debates which followed the publication of Darwin's book on the origin of species, Australian Aborigines were used as the ideal exemplars of early human forms by European scholars bent on discovering the origins of social institutions. The Aborigines have consequently featured as the crucial case-study for generations of social theorists, including Tylor, Frazer, Durkheim and Freud. Arguments about Aborigines reviews a range of controversies such as family life, religion and ritual, and land rights, which marked the formative period of British social anthropology. Professor Hiatt also examines how changes in Aboriginal practices have affected scholarly debate. This elegant 1996 book will provide a valuable introduction to aboriginal ethnography for students, scholars and the general reader. It is also a shrewd and stimulating history of the great debates of anthropology, seen through the prism of Aboriginal studies.

For more than seventy years the Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) fought to protect the rights of natives living under the rule of the British Empire. Active on four continents, the APS resisted the efforts of white supremacists while defending aboriginal interests across the globe. The APS put Zulu King Cetshwayo in contact with Queen Victoria and brought Maori rebels to the banqueting hall of the Lord Mayor. The society's supporters faced dangerous pushback by the powers they challenged and were labeled Zulu-lovers and traitors by senior British Army officers and white settlers. This book tells the story of the struggle among Britain's Colonial Office, white settlers, and aborigines that determined the development of the empire in its formative years. Particularly, it describes the pivotal role of APS in limiting the claims of white settlers for the sake of native interests. Despite this victory, native protection policy actually expanded imperial rule. Focusing on examples from southern Africa, the Congo, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, and Canada, James Heartfield shows how the arguments made by supporters of native protection policy indirectly justified colonization. Highlighting the wreckage of humanitarian imperialism today, he sets out to identify its roots in the beliefs and practices of its nineteenth-century equivalents.

Detailed examination of the scope for recognition of customary laws through existing common law rules; human rights and problems of relativity of standards; contact experience; constitutional aspects; marriage and family structures; recognition of traditional marriage; protection and distribution of property; child custody, fostering and adoption; the criminal justice system; customary law offences; police investigation and interrogation; issues of evidence and procedure including unsworn statements, juries and interpreters; proof of customary law including scope of expert evidence; taking of evidence including group evidence, secrecy and privileged communications; customary methods of dispute settlement; special Aboriginal courts and justice schemes; relations with police; traditional hunting, fishing and gathering practices; relevant case law and legislation considered throughout.

A must read for anybody with a serious interest in understanding the current conflicted views about remote Aboriginal futures.' - Nicolas Peterson, Professor of Anthropology, Australian National University 'In this insightful and different book Austin-Broos challenges us all.' - Bob Gregory, Professor of Economics, Australian National University Great beauty is juxtaposed with seemingly endless grief in remote Aboriginal Australia. Communities which produce magnificent art and maintain ancient ways also face extremes of social stress. Why does our society seem to get it so wrong for remote Aboriginal communities? Why, despite decades of consultation and policy shifts, can't governments introduce initiatives that will really close the gap? Why do critics and scholars alike struggle to make sense of the situation? Diane Austin-Broos looks beyond the dire living conditions, lack of employment opportunities, misspent funds and wrangles over resources, to ask where the obstacles really lie. Drawing on her extensive experience as an anthropologist, she identifies a polarisation in the debate about these communities which leads to either ineffective policies or paralysis. She argues that until we find ways to acknowledge both cultural difference and inequality, we will not overcome this impasse. The way forward can't be a trade-off between land rights and employment, but needs to encompass both. This is a unique insight which will reshape not only the debate about remote Aboriginal communities, but also what happens on the ground.

Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing - behaviors inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag. Gerritsen and Gammage in their latest books support this premise but Pascoe takes this further and challenges the hunter-gatherer tag as a convenient lie. Almost all the evidence comes from the records and diaries of the Australian explorers, impeccable sources.

Combining the perspectives of political, social and cultural history, this book presents a holistic interpretation of the complex relationship between Indigenous and settler Australians during the mid 20th century. The author provides an insightful history of the changing nature of race relations in Australia.

The publication of this book in 1981 profoundly changed the way in which we understand the history of relations between indigenous Australians and European settlers. Describes in meticulous and compelling detail the ways in which Aborigines responded to the arrival of Europeans.