Aboriginal Paintings of the Wolfe Creek Crater: Track of the Rainbow Serpent

by Peggy Reeves Sanday

Told in Aboriginal art and narrative, the Dreamtime story of the creation and meaning of the Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater in Australia's Western Desert appears here for the first time. Deftly and sensitively Sanday introduces the meaning of the cosmology of the homeland of the Walmajarri and Djaru Aboriginal people. She provides a compelling story of discovery, both that of her geologist father in 1947 and her own decades later.

In a vibrant example of public-interest anthropology, an ethnography that evolves from dialogue and collaboration and honors the Aboriginal artists with whom she worked, Sanday enlightens, elucidates, and communicates the aesthetic sensibility of a people on their own terms. Through powerful Aboriginal art, readers become part of an unforgettable cultural experience.

168 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2007

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic study of the Aboriginal art generated from traditional stories of the Wolf Creek Crater area in West Australia. The 300 million year old crater is reflected in the ancient and modern Aboriginal and non-indigenous art and stories of the area, some of which are kept secret for Elders and initiates.
The thing which surprised me, when my daughter brought this home from the second hand book fair, was that I knew of Peggy Reeves Sanday. I had quoted her earlier work, "Fraternity Gang Rape" in my Masters thesis, and had noted at the time that she wrote on very diverse topics, including Cannibalism and Matriarchy; from University of Pennsylvania.

[Sean Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has somewhat of a split personality. While the author conveys her personal experiences in a most engaging manner, her interpretations and detailed explanations of the artwork and stories she collected of the Wolfe Creek Crater were laborious and at times confusing. This is undoubtedly the result of only being able to get superficial details of the crater story, the crux of it being known to a handful of Elders and unable to be told to outsiders or the uninitiated. The stories that are available to the 'general public' are contradictory and corrupted by modern scientific explanations of the crater's formation, possibly deliberately so. Perhaps the author should have taken the stories for what they were - highly water-downed versions bearing little resemblance to the real thing - rather than trying to find a deeper meaning.

I think the book would have worked better if it had focused on either the author's personal story and connection to the Wolfe Creek crater, or, the stories and artwork, and not tried to intermingle both. It was as if the book couldn't decide whether it was a memoir/journey of discovery type of account or an academic study.