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Burnum Burnum's Aboriginal Australia: a traveller's guide
Burnum Burnum's Aboriginal Australia is the first book ever to offer a personal, Aboriginal vision of this, the world's greatest island.
Through over 300 stunning colour pictures and 150 black and white archival photographs, many of which have never been published before, and through the words of one of this country's best known and most respected Aboriginal people, this unique book takes the read on a journey around the continent, an unforgettable journey that reveals an Australia rarely experienced by white inhabitants.
Following Highway One, from Sydney north to Cairns, west to Darwin and south to Perth, then heading back to Sydney via the centre and Tasmania, Burnum Burnum guides us through lands that were once the traditional territory of many nations, clans and groups and opens our eyes to the lifestyles, history, art and lore of the original Australians.
Through over 300 stunning colour pictures and 150 black and white archival photographs, many of which have never been published before, and through the words of one of this country's best known and most respected Aboriginal people, this unique book takes the read on a journey around the continent, an unforgettable journey that reveals an Australia rarely experienced by white inhabitants.
Following Highway One, from Sydney north to Cairns, west to Darwin and south to Perth, then heading back to Sydney via the centre and Tasmania, Burnum Burnum guides us through lands that were once the traditional territory of many nations, clans and groups and opens our eyes to the lifestyles, history, art and lore of the original Australians.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 7, 2019
I've read this book on and off since I bought but I reviewed it for #IndigLitWeek 2019 at ANZ LitLovers.
This a big coffee-table type book, with beautiful full colour photography illustrating Burnum Burnum's journey all the way round Highway One (and not leaving out Tasmania!) Burnum Burnum (1936-1997) was a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man from Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales, and was a high profile activist, actor and author. A Churchill Fellow, he achieved remarkable things despite growing up in children's homes run by NSW Aboriginal Welfare Board, but as Wikipedia notes:
As with the Langton book, I turned first to Aboriginal Australia's section on Victoria, where there is an explanation of villages and farming techniques that are only now becoming more widely known thanks to Bruce Pascoe's ground-breaking publication Dark Emu, Black seeds - agriculture or accident? There's a whole double page spread with illustrations about the south-west Mara People's engineering works for their eeling industry—in Lake Bolac, Mt William, in the Toolondo District, Lake Condah. These are places close to home where I've visited, but not known the Indigenous story at the time.
This whole chapter features places I am likely to go to, while the extensive section on Melbourne itself includes the dreaming story of the Port Phillip region—the story of Bunjil the eagle whose statue stands seven metres high at Docklands. The infamous story of Batman's Treaty is retold, and there is a magnificent picture of William Barak in full regalia including what looks like his possum-skin cloak, but also sunglasses and an amused smile. In fact there is a great deal to read and enjoy about Melbourne, and Victoria, and the other states of Australia as well.
To see the rest of this review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/07/07/w...
This a big coffee-table type book, with beautiful full colour photography illustrating Burnum Burnum's journey all the way round Highway One (and not leaving out Tasmania!) Burnum Burnum (1936-1997) was a Woiworrung and Yorta Yorta man from Wallaga Lake in southern New South Wales, and was a high profile activist, actor and author. A Churchill Fellow, he achieved remarkable things despite growing up in children's homes run by NSW Aboriginal Welfare Board, but as Wikipedia notes:
He may be best remembered for planting the Aboriginal flag on the white cliffs of Dover on the Australian Bicentenary Day of 26 January 1988. This was his tongue-in-cheek way of claiming England, as Arthur Phillip had done to Burnum Burnum's homeland in 1788 when arriving with the First Fleet. (Wikipedia, lightly edited to remove unnecessary links, viewed 7/6/19)
As with the Langton book, I turned first to Aboriginal Australia's section on Victoria, where there is an explanation of villages and farming techniques that are only now becoming more widely known thanks to Bruce Pascoe's ground-breaking publication Dark Emu, Black seeds - agriculture or accident? There's a whole double page spread with illustrations about the south-west Mara People's engineering works for their eeling industry—in Lake Bolac, Mt William, in the Toolondo District, Lake Condah. These are places close to home where I've visited, but not known the Indigenous story at the time.
This whole chapter features places I am likely to go to, while the extensive section on Melbourne itself includes the dreaming story of the Port Phillip region—the story of Bunjil the eagle whose statue stands seven metres high at Docklands. The infamous story of Batman's Treaty is retold, and there is a magnificent picture of William Barak in full regalia including what looks like his possum-skin cloak, but also sunglasses and an amused smile. In fact there is a great deal to read and enjoy about Melbourne, and Victoria, and the other states of Australia as well.To see the rest of this review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/07/07/w...
February 4, 2013
such an interesting culture.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews