Bruce Shaw

Grant Ngabidj

Narrative account of Ngabidjs life, including large amounts of information on traditional law and social organisation; relationship to land; location and relationships between Gadjerong, Miriwong, Wunambal, Gidja, Ngarinman, Djaru, Murinbata, Yilngali, Garamau, Wadjagidj, Malak tribal groups; naming, totems, conception, kinship, marriage, initiation; station life and stock work, violent conflicts with whites, Forrest River massacre, relations with police; food, hunting, shelters, didgeridoo; legends, cosmology, magic, sorcery, poisoning, medicine; ceremonies, cults; tribal law, executions, fights and social control; revival of traditional law; introduction by Shaw with historical notes, comments on the narrative and on Aboriginal English; glossary.

The Life of an Australian Aborigine of the Gadjerong, Grant Ngabidj, 1904-1977 as Told to Bruce Shaw

My Country of the Pelican Dreaming

This collection of Aboriginal oral histories focuses on themes such as dreamings, religious life, living off the land, epidemics, droughts and floods, and self-management. Includes an introduction describing the history and geography of the region, and a chapter on the Aboriginal people and their territories in the area. Includes a bibliography and an index. The author is a former lecturer in social anthropology at the Darwin Community College and has also compiled TMy Country of the Pelican Dreaming' and TCountrymen'.

Aboriginal Reminiscences from the Western Lake Eyre Basin

Our Heart is the Land

Joan Martin

The life story of Joan Martin is that of a fierce Aboriginal woman who fought for the rights of her community and her autobiography also tells of the Aboriginal experience in general since World War II. Born in the country town of Morawa, Western Australia, in 1941, Martin led an exciting and adventurous life filled with great challenges—including her efforts to avoid Native Welfare, so as not to be shipped to a mission, and her later very public battle with Homeswest for the right to live in peace in her own home. Joan played a central part in the native title claim of the Widi, which unfortunately proved unsuccessful. Her stories reveal the interconnected themes of family, teaching bush lore to her children, and celebrating the Widi culture through her art, as well as tales of conflicts with mining companies and white bureaucracies. Both artist and activist, Martin was a significant figure in Western Australian history and politics and this book captures both her unique life story and that of the Widi people since white settlement.

A Widi Woman

Joan Martin (Yarrna)

Though animal stories and fables stretch back into the antiquity of ancient India, Persia, Greece and Rome, the reasons for writing them and their resonance for readers (and listeners) remain consistent to the present. This work argues that they were essential sources of amusement and instruction—and were also often profoundly unsettling. Such authors in the realm of the animal fable as Tolkien, Freud, Voltaire, Bakhtin, Cordwainer Smith, Karel Čapek, Vladimir Propp, and many more are discussed.

The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy

"This book is an appreciation of selected authors who make extensive use of humor in English detective/crime fiction, ranging from mild wit to outright farce, burlesque, even slapstick. This is not intended as an exhaustive study but as an introduction into the best produced by a handful of very capable and enjoyable authors"--

Humor in English Crime Fiction of the Golden Age

Jolly Good Detecting

The final volume of the author's east Kimberley region life history books P the other titles in the series being TMy Country of the Pelican Dreaming' (1981), TBanggaiyerri' (1983), TCountryman' (1986) and TBush Time, Station Time' (1991). This volume contains the life stories of 18 Aboriginals, compiled from tape-recorded conversations. Contains a chronology, an extensive glossary, a select bibliography and an index.

Aboriginal Viewpoints in the East Kimberley Prior to 1982

When the Dust Come in Between

This book is an appreciation of selected authors who make extensive use of humor in English detective/crime fiction. Works using humor as an amelioration of the serious have their heyday in the Golden Age of crime writing but they belong also to a long tradition. There is an identifiable lineage of humorous writing in crime fiction that ranges from mild wit to outright farce, burlesque, even slapstick. A mix of entertainment with instruction is a tradition in English letters. English crime fiction writers of the era circa 1913 to 1940 were raised in the mainstream literary tradition but turned their skills to detective fiction. And they are the humorists of the genre. This book is not an exhaustive study but an introduction into the best produced by the most capable and enjoyable authors. What the humorists seek is to surprise the reader by overturning their expectations using a repertoire of stylistic conceits and motifs (recurring incidents, devices, references). Humor has a liberating effect but is concerned too with "comic contrast" through ugliness and caricature. In crime fiction one effect is intellectual pleasure at solving (or attempting to solve) a puzzle. Another is entertainment but with serious undertones.

Bruce Shaw

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