Aboriginal Ethnographica
Australian Aboriginal Axes, Spears, Clubs, Canoes, Baskets and Boomerangs.
Petroglyphs, [Rock art] , [Interlocking] Key Designs, Waningas, Churingas, Fire, Footwear & Death.
by Daniel Sutherland Davidson.
With an Appreciation of D.S. Davidson by Kim Akerman.
ISBN 978-0-85905-491-1, (2011R), A4, 489pp, illustrated.
A "SOFT COVER" EDITION. FOLDED FLAPS 300gsm COVER. 1300 GRAMS, $85.00* + POST
This magnificent volume of 489 x A4 pages contains the majority of Davidson’s Australian ethnographic papers from 1933 to 1953.
The sub-title presents the range of material included, all profusely illustrated.
Kim Akerman, Ken Macintyre, Mark Chambers, and the publisher have long been enamoured by the work and dedication of Davidson and this is the second volume of his works produced by Hesperian. The finale will be available shortly.
The general ignorance about Davidson’s work, (and also of many other researchers), is a crime on the level of book burning. Only a handful of interested persons appear to have had access to these papers since they were originally published.
Davidson’s works, together with Roth’s The Queensland Aborigines and minor books such as Winjan’s People, give readers a great insight into the lost cultures that made up the tribes of Australia. These re-issues may serve to revitalise interest among all Australians and show that there was more to Aboriginal craftsmanship than being feedstock for ‘art galleries’.
Interested readers are invited to examine the list of over 60 titles of Aboriginal interest on the Hesperian Press website and to click for notification of new Hesperian Press titles as soon as they are published.