North-eastern Arnhem Land Research Articles

Prioritising animals for Yirralka Ranger management and research collaborations in the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, northern Australia

Context Amidst growing international calls for inclusive conservation and a backdrop of declining species and cultural diversity, Indigenous-led approaches that offer opportunities for biocultural benefits are of growing interest. Species prioritisation is one area that can be decolonised, shifting from quantitative, large-scale threatened species metrics to pluralistic, place-based approaches that include culturally significant species. Aim This study aimed to establish a list of priority animals of concern to Ŋaḻapaḻmi (senior knowledge holders) in the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, north-eastern Arnhem Land, Australia. This list could focus the research and management efforts of the Yirralka Rangers and collaborators. Methods Adhering to local governance structures, through six group-elicitation sessions, Ŋaḻapaḻmi were asked to identify animals of concern and describe reasons for concern. Existing occurrence records and threat status of these species were compiled to assess baseline data and guide next steps. Results The Ŋaḻapaḻmi-defined Laynhapuy Priority Animal List contained 30 animals (species/groups), with the highest-ranked animals including Marrtjinyami wäyin (walking animals), Rupu (possums), and Djanda (goannas), all mammals and varanid lizards. The list of 30 animals included 43 species from a Western-science perspective, of which 12 were also listed as threatened through Western conservation frameworks. Some animals were considered high priority locally, such as the waṉ’kurra (northern brown bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus), although not a concern from a Western-science perspective, demonstrating mismatch between local and larger-scale approaches. To help disentangle whether this mismatch is due to cultural significance and/or localised decline not captured at larger-scale assessments, we provide the animal’s publicly known Yolŋu clan connections and reasons for concern alongside existing baseline occurrence data. Recent collaborative surveys have substantially increased data for Laynhapuy Priority Animals, demonstrating the benefits of community engaged wildlife research. Conclusions Multidisciplinary research collaborations can produce Indigenous-led ‘working’ lists of priority animals to guide culturally attuned on-ground action. Approaches that draw on different cultural knowledge systems require interrogation of how knowledge is created and conveyed to ensure mutual comprehension and practical use. Implications Indigenous-led approaches offer possibilities for enhanced management of species by local groups, with anticipated co-benefits to species and cultural knowledge.

The Multiple Being: Multispecies Ethnographic Filmmaking in Arnhem Land, Australia

Ethnographic filmmaking can be an effective way of discovering layers of meaning, in this instance the concept of the “multiple animal,” where a significant animal’s multiplicity is revealed through ceremony and everyday encounters. Here we combine more-than-human sociality and multispecies ethnography with observational filmmaking, in relation to my own filmmaking and the earlier work of Ian Dunlop, and in collaboration with Yolngu communities in northeastern Arnhem Land. A re-examination of Dunlop’s visual ethnography, supplemented by my more recent film work, offers new insights into Yolngu perceptions about other beings, beyond symbolic metaphors and totems.

Building Yolŋu Skills, Knowledge, and Priorities into Early Childhood Assessment and Support: Protocol for a Qualitative Study.

BackgroundYolngu or Yolŋu are a group of indigenous Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Recent government policy addressing disparities in outcomes between Indigenous and other children in Australia has resulted in the rapid introduction of early childhood interventions in remote Aboriginal communities. This is despite minimal research into their appropriateness or effectiveness for these contexts.ObjectiveThis research aims to privilege Aboriginal early childhood knowledge, priorities and practices and to strengthen the evidence base for culturally responsive and relevant assessment processes and support that distinguishes “difference” from “deficit” to facilitate optimal child development.MethodsThis collaborative qualitative research employs video ethnography, participant observation and in-depth interviews, involving Aboriginal families and researchers in design, implementation, interpretation and dissemination using a locally developed, culturally responsive research approach. Longitudinal case studies are being conducted with 6 families over 5 years and emerging findings are being explored with a further 50 families and key community informants. Data from all sources are analyzed inductively using a collaborative and iterative process. The study findings, grounded in an in-depth understanding of the cultural context of the study but with relevance to policy and practice more widely, are informing the development of a Web-based educational resource and targeted knowledge exchange activities.ResultsThis paper focuses only on the research approach used in this project. The findings will be reported in detail in future publications. In response to community concerns about lack of recognition of Aboriginal early childhood strengths, priorities and knowledge, this collaborative community-driven project strengthens the evidence base for developing culturally responsive and relevant early childhood services and assessment processes to support optimal child development. The study findings are guiding the development of a Web-based educational resource for staff working with Aboriginal communities and families in the field of early child development. This website will also function as a community-developed tool for strengthening and maintaining Aboriginal knowledge and practice related to child development and child rearing. It will be widely accessible to community members through a range of platforms (eg, mobile phones and tablets) and will provide a model for other cultural contexts.ConclusionsThis project will facilitate wider recognition and reflection of cultural knowledge and practice in early childhood programs and policies and will support strengthening and maintenance of cultural knowledge. The culturally responsive and highly collaborative approach to community-based research on which this project is based will also inform future research through sharing knowledge about the research process as well as research findings.

Remarks on the spatial distribution of some butterflies and diurnal moths (Lepidoptera) in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia

The geographical distribution is reviewed and/or new spatial data are given for 15 species of butterflies and diurnal moths from the Top End of the Northern Territory. Three species of day-flying moths, the Zodiac Moth (Alcides metaurus) (family Uraniidae), Mimeusemia centralis (Noctuidae) and Euchromia creusa (Arctiidae), are recorded from the Northern Territory for the first time. Two extant locations of the Purple Beak butterfly (Libythea geoffroyi) from Fish River Station and Gregory National Park represent the first confirmed resident breeding populations of this species in the Northern Territory. The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) is recorded for the first time from the Top End and western Gulf Country where a large-scale range expansion occurred during April-May 2013; other records from the Darwin area comprise intentional introductions facilitated by 'butterfly releases'. New records of the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus) and Northern Argus (Junonia erigone) suggest these species have limited ranges in northern Australia; both are considered to be rare vagrants or immigrants from Indonesia, East Timor, or adjacent islands. The White Migrant (Catopsilia pyranthe) appears to be a rare seasonal migrant to the Darwin area and nearby locations from further inland. The White-banded Line-blue (Nacaduba kurava) is confirmed as occurring in the Darwin area. The Samphire Blue (Theclinesthes sulpitius) and the Glistening Line-blue (Sahulana scintillata) are newly recorded from the western Gulf of Carpentaria and Gove Peninsula, respectively, extending their distribution considerably further east in the Top End. In contrast, the Plumbago Blue (Leptotes plinius) is considered to be erroneous, and accordingly this species is removed from the lepidopteran inventory for the Top End. The Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus), No-brand Grass-yellow (Eurema brigitta) and Lurcher (Yoma sabina) have narrower ranges within the Northern Territory than previously suspected, being restricted to north-eastern Arnhem Land and/or the Gulf of Carpentaria. Within the Top End, six species, including the Gove Crow (Euploea alcathoe enastri), are restricted to northeastern Arnhem Land, but three others, A. metaurus, E. brigitta, and Red-banded Jezebel (Delias mysis), are probably rare vagrants from northern Queensland.

The view from Marege’: Australian knowledge of Makassar and the impact of the trepang industry across two centuries

When Matthew Flinders and Robert Brown met the trepanging fleet from Makassar off north-eastern Arnhem Land in 1803 and interviewed Pobassoo, its 'old Commander', they asked a very well-informed question; according to Brown, 'They [that is, the trepangers] denied having any of their celebrated Poison wch they call Ippo, on board'. Given the long and complicated history of the European understanding of this poison, it is not clear how Flinders and Brown picked up the common association of 'ippo', or more usually in Malay 'upas', with Makassar. The significance of the question in this discussion, however, is that it demonstrates how these British observers of the trepang industry in northern Australia were able to place the trepangers within a known context. Neither Flinders nor Brown had ever visited Makassar - or would in the future, but they knew this detail about the world of South Sulawesi and the Indonesian archipelago more generally. It is a useful point from which to begin a survey of the changing attitudes of those who saw this industry in action, before turning to the outlook of those who have studied it subsequently.

Interpretations of the Pleiades in Australian Aboriginal astronomies

AbstractAs there are so many Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait astronomies and cosmologies, commonalities are unusual. However one of the ‘things belonging to the sky’ that seems common to all groups across the continent is the open star cluster of the Pleiades. Yet interpretations of this cluster vary. So far I have tentatively identified four different cultural areas, the first being most of mainland Australia; the second being the islands south of mainland Australia known as Tasmania; the third being the cultural area of north-eastern Arnhem Land; and the fourth being the cultural area of the Torres Strait Islands. Within these areas, versions of the stories vary as contemporary circumstances change.

Conservation status and management of the Gove Crow Euploea alcathoe enastri (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), a threatened tropical butterfly from the indigenous Aboriginal lands of north-eastern Arnhem Land, Australia

The Gove Crow butterfly, Euploea alcathoe enastri Fenner, 1991, is restricted to Gove Peninsula of north-eastern Arnhem Land, a remote area of northern Australia. The subspecies has been listed as an Endangered taxon under federal and Northern Territory legislation, and represents one of only a few cases in the Australian Region in which a tropical butterfly has been targeted for species-orientated conservation. However, accurate status evaluation and conservation management have been hampered by lack of detailed information on spatial distribution, critical habitat, and the extent and severity of threatening processes. Surveys carried out during 2006–2008 indicate that the subspecies has a limited geographical range (extent of occurrence approximately 6,700 km2) within which it is recorded from 11 locations or subpopulations embracing a total of 21 sites. Most sites comprise discrete habitat patches that are relatively small in area (<10 ha) within which adults are localised and occur in low abundance (<15 h−1). Of the four major habitat types in which E. alcathoe enastri was detected, only mixed paperbark tall open forest with rainforest elements in the understorey and rainforest edge (i.e. the ecotone between evergreen monsoon vine-forest and eucalypt/paperbark woodland) comprise breeding habitats. These habitat patches were always associated with permanent creeks or perennial groundwater seepages or springs that form swamplands, usually along drainage lines or flood plains in coastal or near coastal lowland areas. Major threats identified at the site level are habitat modification through altered fire regime and habitat disturbance by feral animals (buffalo, pig); potential threats at the landscape level include habitat loss through invasive species (grassy weeds, tramp ants) and global climate change. However, since critical breeding areas are subject to natural disturbance by both fire and flood, and occasionally cyclonic events, an optimal balance in disturbance regime is probably required to sustain breeding populations. Although E. alcathoe enastri is a narrow-range endemic that is ecologically specialised, there is no evidence of decline. Accordingly, the conservation status of the subspecies should be regarded as Near Threatened (‘Conservation Dependent’) under IUCN criteria. Components for an effective long-term conservation management plan of the butterfly and its habitat, which largely depend on the cooperation of traditional landowners and involvement of local indigenous ranger groups, are briefly discussed.

Stranger Danger: Approaching Home and Ten Canoes

This essay explores the meaning of home in the 2006 film Ten Canoes. The film resulted from an extraordinary collaboration between the Ramingining Aboriginal community of northeastern Arnhem Land and Australian art-house director Rolf de Heer. It tells of Dayindi (Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu), a young Yolngu man living one thousand years ago, who is in love with his elder brother's youngest wife. To correct Dayindi's “wrong feelings,” his brother tells him another story that we also witness in the film, this one set tens of thousands of years in the ancient past. The essay argues that simply articulating the film's twists in the logic of Western cinematic storytelling renders it richly suggestive of traditional Yolngu law, a process that in turn reveals the Ramingining community's commentary on the complex racial politics of the contemporary Australian “homeland.”

Biogeographic implications of Ascidiacea (Tunicata) from the Wessel Islands (Arafura Sea)

A collection of ascidians from the Wessel Islands (off north-eastern Arnhem Land) confirms the Indo-West Pacific affinities of the Australian tropical ascidian fauna. The collection, dominated by species of the family Didemnidae previously observed to be diverse in tropical waters, includes several of the species with obligate 'Prochloron' symbioses.The collection also contains three large solitary species ('Polycarpa aurita', 'P. papillata' and 'Microcosmus helleri') known to have a pan-tropical range. The geographic range and life history strategies of the majority of species in this collection support the view that gene flow in the Indo-West Pacific and through the straits to the north of the Australian continent that connect the two oceans is not constrained by either a short free-swimming larval life, or internal fertilisation in the fixed, colonial organisms that dominate the tropical fauna. In colonial species at least, population maintenance may be a more significant selective advantage than gene flow through larval dispersal.

Remembering our ancestors: cross-cultural collaboration and the mediation of Aboriginal culture and history in Ten Canoes (Rolf de Heer, 2006)

In 2000, maverick Australian director Rolf de Heer began a collaboration with Australian Aboriginal screen legend David Gulpilil to make a film set in Gulpilil's traditional lands in North Eastern Arnhem Land. The result of the collaboration is the new feature Ten Canoes (2006). For Gulpilil the project represented an opportunity to launch careers in film for members of his community, including his son Jamie Gulpilil (who plays the lead role). He has also stated that ‘the film will allow people from the community and around the world to know how our ancestors lived and to understand them’. In order to try to achieve this, de Heer took on the challenging task he describes as ‘fusing two very different storytelling traditions’. Drawing on the documentary Balanda and the Bark Canoes (2006) (also known as Making Ten Canoes) and other sources, this article goes behind the scenes to examine processes of cross-cultural collaboration and intercultural fusion. It argues the film shows that while stories have different forms and functions in different societies, one story can be made to serve two different cultural requirements and, further, in doing so can expand possibilities for both cross-cultural recognition and cinema.

FollowingGarkman, the frog, in North Eastern Arnhem Land (Australia)

The research presented here focused on the ethnozoology of frogs as viewed by two Aboriginal communities: Gangan and Gapuwiyak, which are both located in north-east Arnhem Land (Yolngu territory), Northern Territory. The aim of this research was to record traditional Aboriginal knowledge about frogs as viewed by Dhalwangu, a Yolngu clan. Particular emphasis was placed on amphibian traditions and beliefs, local nomenclature, and natural history as conceived by the Dhalwangu. A full understanding of the symbolism of Garkman, the frog, and its relatedness to other aspects of the culture is only beginning to be realised by the researchers.Traditional ecological knowledge illustrates how Aboriginal people have learned to survive and live in their environment, but the gradual loss of such knowledge (especially with the death of senior men and elders) and the devastation of ecosystems by invasive pests threaten local traditional knowledge. For example, the recent spread of the introduced cane toad (Bufo marinus)...

Vegetation of the Wessel and English Company Islands, North-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Vegetation patterning is described for two neighbouring continental island chains off Arnhem Land, Australia. A total of 684 species was recorded from 57 islands, with reasonably comprehensive lists for 36 of these islands. Almost 90% of the deviance in plant species richness was associated with island size. The richness of plants dispersed by sea and/or vertebrates was proportionally greater on small islands; that of relatively poor dispersers was greater on larger islands. Twelve vegetation communities were defined by classification of plant species composition in 226 50 × 50-m quadrats. There was no relationship between island size and species richness at the quadrat level, at least for the most extensive vegetation types. The vegetation of the islands is now composed of two main elements—an original set of communities (mostly of heath, tussock grassland and eucalypt open forest) whose species have poor inter-island dispersal, and a set of more recent colonists (mostly of strand, mangrove and coastal thicket communities). The former group is allied to the sandstone flora of western Arnhem Land, but is species-poor in comparison, as the islands lack the deep gorges which drive much of the species richness of western Arnhem Land. The latter group comprises many species with a broad geographic range across tropical coastal areas, including many species which have been shown elsewhere to be highly vagile. Many species of the former set appear to have been lost from the smaller islands. The island flora has been influenced by three sets of human managers. Aboriginal use of the islands has been long-standing and probably resulted in a fire regime which may have accentuated environmental patchiness. Centuries of wet-season use of some islands by Macassan trepang-harvesters, ending early this century, has apparently left few effects other than the persistence of occasional small populations of an introduced food tree. In contrast, European use of these islands has been minimal and fleeting, but is associated with the introduction of most weeds.

Distributional patterning of terrestrial herpetofauna on the Wessel and English Company Island groups, northeastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Forty‐four species of terrestrial reptiles and eight species of frogs were recorded from 60 continental islands of the Wessel and English Company groups off northeastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Two gecko species, Oedura rhombifer and Heteronotia binoei, were present on the most islands (34 and 31, respectively), and occurred on islands &lt; 5 ha. In contrast, agamids, pygopodids and varanids were absent from islands &lt; 18 ha, and snakes and frogs were not reported from islands &lt; 240 ha. Island size explained 82% of the variation in species richness for terrestrial reptiles, and 84% of that for lizards. The relationship was less good for (i) groups with generally uncommon species (notably snakes), for which sampling effort explained more variation, and (ii) groups with species which had relatively specific habitat requirements (notably frogs), for which island size and isolation factors were not especially relevant. For most taxonomic groups considered, isolation factors added little to the relationship between species richness and island size. Across all reptiles, larger species were found on fewer islands, and had larger island size thresholds. This relationship broke down with analysis restricted to the single most species‐rich family, Scincidae. Only 6 of the 20 most frequently recorded species showed significant variation in abundance among 8 vegetation types sampled by 226 quadrats across 40 islands. The number of species (alpha‐diversity) and total abundance of herpetofauna within quadrats was generally unrelated to island size; however, (with analysis restricted to islands on which they occurred) six individual species were significantly more abundant on smaller islands than on larger islands, with no species showing the opposite pattern. The islands’ herpetofauna is largely a relatively depauperate subset of that of the far more complex sandstone massif and escarpment of western Arnhem Land, especially missing species associated with rugged sandstone gorges, riparian areas, open forests, swamps and clay soils. Patterns in species richness and composition are explained by greater range of environments on larger islands allowing better retention of species since isolation and/or richer tallies at the time of isolation. The evidence suggests that there has been relatively little colonization, although at least two gecko species and one varanid may have moved reasonably frequently.

Distributional patterning of mammals on the Wessel and English Company Islands, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Eighteen non-marine mammal species (including seven species of bats) were recorded from a total of 49 islands in the Wessel and English Company island chains off north-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Most individual species were restricted to, or had higher incidence on, larger islands, and species richness as a whole increased as island size increased. The most notable exception was the semi-aquatic Hydromys chrysogaster, which occurred relatively equitably across island sizes; this species, two bat species and the macropod Petrogale brachyotis were recorded from islands smaller than 10 ha. However, the variation between islands in the number of native terrestrial mammal species was not best predicted by island size, but rather by a combination of sampling effort and altitude (which explained 64% of the deviance in species richness), or altitude and distance to larger land mass (explaining 63% of deviance). Richness–area patterns for individual islands in these chains were reasonably consistent with those of other islands sampled in northern Australia. However, the fauna of the Wessel and English Company groups as a whole was less rich than that of the Pellew and Kimberley islands, and individual islands appeared to have lower species richness than comparable mainland areas. Species that were notably absent or that were recorded from relatively few islands include large macropods, Tachyglossus aculeatus, Antechinus bellus, Phascogale tapoatafa, Sminthopsis spp., Mesembriomys gouldii, Rattus colletti, Leggadina lakedownensis and Pseudomys calabyi. Some of these species may be absent through lack of suitable habitat; others have presumably disappeared since isolation, possibly due to Aboriginal hunting. Richness at the quadrat (50 × 50 m) scale was generally very low. Habitat relationships are described for the 7 species recorded from more than 5 quadrats. At a quadrat-scale, the richness of native mammals was greater on islands larger than 1000 ha than on islands smaller than 1000 ha. Quadrat-scale species richness varied significantly among the islands sampled by the most quadrats (even when the comparison was restricted to either of the two most extensive vegetation types), but this variation was not closely related to either area or altitude. The two most frequently recorded species, the rodents Melomys burtoni and Zyzomys argurus, showed distinct habitat segregation on islands where both were present, but tended to expand their habitat range on islands where only one of the species occurred. The most notable conservation feature of the mammal fauna of the Wessel and English Company Islands is the occurrence of the golden bandicoot, Isoodon auratus, a vulnerable species apparently now extinct on the Northern Territory mainland. Four feral animal species (Rattus rattus, Canis familiaris, Bubalus bubalis and Capra hircus) were recorded from a total of 6 islands.

An investigation of nutrition‐related risk factors in an isolated Aboriginal community in Northern Australia: advantages of a traditionally‐orientated life‐style

Australian Aborigines develop a high frequency of type-2 diabetes mellitus when they make the transition from a traditional to an urban life-style. Preliminary studies were conducted at an outstation in northeastern Arnhem Land where the Aborigines have been exposed to Western influence for approximately 20 years only and where they continue to follow a life-style that is largely traditional. At the time of the study 31 persons were resident at the outstation, 20 persons were over 15 years of age (adults) and 11 persons were under 15 years of age (children). Eighteen adults and six children were tested. By standard criteria for body mass index these persons were all underweight (less than 20 kg/m2). In spite of this, they displayed no biochemical evidence of malnutrition. Their plasma fatty-acid profiles were consistent with a low dietary fat intake and a high consumption of lean meat. Levels of linoleic acid were much lower and those of arachidonic acid were much higher than are those in persons who consume a Western diet. Fasting glucose and cholesterol concentrations were low relative to those of urbanized Aborigines and white Australians. However, their fasting insulin and triglyceride levels were inappropriately high for their very low body mass index and fasting glucose levels. The mild elevation of triglyceride and fasting insulin levels is consistent with insulin resistance and suggests that these Aborigines (in common with other Aborigines) may become susceptible to obesity and diabetes if they became urbanized further.

A Case of Intensive Lexical Diffusion: Arnhem Land, Australia

The languages of Arhem Land, Australia, form a contiguous block and Sprachbund, despite a sharp genetic boundary. Thus in Ngandi and Ritharngu, which belong to different major genetic divisions, about half the total vocabulary is shared, virtually all because of recent diffusion. 'Core' vocabulary and highly inflected stems (verbs) are among the borrowed items, but linguistic structural factors affect the extent of diffusion. Extensive over-all borrowing is attributed to local demographic and cultural features: small size of ethnolinguistic group, absence of strong tribal organization, and extensive cross-linguistic marriage.* 1. BACKGROUND. In eastern Arnhem Land, along the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, several ethnolinguistic groups (linguistic 'tribes') were in close contact with each other prior to the recent intrusion of whites. I contend that some of these languages came into contact at a fairly recent time (let us say a thousand years ago), and that lexical diffusion among them has reached a level not reported elsewhere for stable multilingual zones. The plausibility of this claim is increased by my previous documentation (Heath 1978a) of extensive phonological and grammatical diffusion involving the same languages. In addition to structural convergence, involving inherited materials, I showed that direct borrowing of many bound affixes had occurred: noun-class prefix systems, negative suffix, denominative verbalizing suffix, pre-inflectional thematizing verbal suffix, comitative affixes (with nouns and verbs), several case suffixes (ergative-instrumental, genitive-dative, ablative, instrumental), dyadic dual suffix with kin terms, and various others. Before proceeding, I will review the evidence for the genetic relationships posited among the languages. The crucial division is between the Yuulngu group, bottled up in northeastern Arnhem Land, and the so-called 'prefixing' languages which surround the Yuu. group to the south and west. The prefixing languages, or at least those involved in this paper, are a genetic group, but the fine-grained subgrouping has not been worked out. The Yuu. group consists of approximately ten languages; and except for one or two Yuu. offshoots in the west which do not concern us, the group is internally quite homogeneous. That the Yuu. languages are closely related has been obvious on lexical and grammatical grounds to all observers, and some of the 'languages' grade into each other in dialect-chain fashion. Adjoining Yuu. languages are approximately as similar to each other as Spanish to Portuguese, or German to Dutch. The wider genetic connections of the Yuu. languages are not to the adjoining prefixing languages, but rather to languages far to the south-in the southern

Population genetic, social, linguistic and topographical relationships in north-eastern Arnhem Land, Australia

GENETIC differentiation has been found among Australian Aboriginal tribes1, but no previous attempt has been made to assess intratribal differentiation. We report here on genetic differentiation within an Aboriginal ‘tribe’ related to linguistic, social and topographical components of the population, together with confirmation of the importance of drainage systems as natural barriers to gene flow. An estimate of inbreeding in a traditionally structured Aboriginal local group is given.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTTERY IN ARNHEM LAND

O INCE R. M. and C. H. Berndt (1947, 1954) reported on pottery fragments found in ^ north-eastern Arnhem Land, there have been collections made at many other sites on the North Coast of Australia, sites which had been used by trepang fishermen for the processing of their catch. F. D. McCarthy and F. M. Setzler (i960) worked on several of these sites in order to establish a time sequence for the period of contact between these fishermen and the Aborigines. They recovered much pottery but were more interested in the porcelain sherds than in the terracotta sherds. They noted the absence of kilns. In 1965 D. J. Mulvaney, during an archaeological reconnaissance, collected pottery on six sites and he was struck by the great similarity between the pottery on all of them. Subsequent detailed work on many other sites by C. C. Macknight, a research scholar in this department, has confirmed this. Mulvaney (1966) again noted that the pottery is well made and invariable well-fired, but that no kilns were in evidence on any of the sites. He attributed all the pottery to importation by trepang fishermen from Makassar the chief port on the south-west coast of the south-western arm of the Indonesian island, Sulawesi.

DERMATOGLYPHICS OF AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES LIVING ON MORNINGTON ISLAND, GULF OF CARPENTARIA

IN i960 Cummins and Setzler published an analysis of the finger and palm prints they had collected from mainland aborigines during the 1948 Arnhem Land expedition. The subjects were 41 males and 51 females from Yirrkala in north-eastern Arnhem Land and 43 males and 38 females from Groote Eylandt. The authors gave details of finger and palm patterns but did not report finger ridge counts. Macintosh (1952) analysed the pattern frequencies but not the ridge counts of finger prints from 82 males at Old Beswick and Mainoru in Arnhem Land and from 53 males in the files of the Western Australian Police Department in Perth. Rao (1964a ; b) reported the finger pattern frequencies and total finger ridge counts of 44 males and 40 females from the Juiri, Kulari and Walambi people at Kalumburu on the Western Australian coast north-west of Wyngham. Mader, Parsons, Conner and Hatt (1965) collected finger prints from four tribes in Central Australia (Aranda : 86 males, 102 females ; Pintubi : 64 males, 57 females ; Pitjantjatjara : 139 males, 148 females ; Wailbri : 73 males, 109 females). Their report was confined to pattern indices calculated from the total triradius count of each population and lacked analyses of ridge counts and pattern frequencies. They found some significant differences in inter-tribal pattern indices. Rao (1965) examined finger and palm prints of 61 boys and 40 girls of the Wailbri tribe at Yuendumu Settlement, north-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, and reported the pattern frequencies. The present report is an analysis of the finger and palm prints from 19 males and 19 females of the Kaiadilt and 55 males and 65 females of the Lardili living on Mornington Island in 1966, the total number of tribal members at that time being 94 Kaiadilt and 476 Lardili. The material was collected when the author visited Mornington Island in June, 1966 in association with a psychiatric survey unit from the University of New South Wales. The expedition was supported by the Australiern Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Mornington Island is the largest island in the Wellesley group in the south-east part of the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the Queensland coast (Fig. 1). In 1947 it was inhabited by the Lardili tribe, with a few members from other tribal groups, particularly Janggal from the small Forsyth Island at its southern tip. Bentinck Island some miles to the south-east was the home of the Kaiadilt. For various reasons the Kaiadilt lived a marginal existence and it appears that they had maintained almost complete isolation from the mainland and from the other islands in

Preliminary Report on Field Work in Northeastern Arnhem Land

Preliminary Report on Field Work in Northeastern Arnhem Land