The Aborigines of the North, by a Rotuman
Sydney, Methodist Overseas Missions of Australasia Literature Department, [circa 1947] (see page 34: 'Ten years ago [1937] I visited Australia').
Octavo, 48 pages with numerous illustrations (from photographs).
Pictorial wrappers a little used and tender; vertical crease down the middle of the entire pamphlet; minor signs of handling; a very good copy.
A 'young Fijian's story of his life as a [Methodist] missionary among the Aborigines of Arnhem Land' (from the foreword by C.F. Gribble). Contents include 'conditions at Bagot Compound, Croker Island, Goulburn Island, Milingimbi, vengeance of deaths until Makkarrata is held, magic and witch-doctors, food taboos, mortuary ceremony at Goulburn Island, cooking method for duck, drill method of firemaking and treatment of yams' (Trove). We might also add Aborigines and the War, Reactions to the War, Exploiting the Natives, and Native Law Versus British Law. After an interval of some 75 years since its publication, this work makes sobering reading.
Item #132477
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