This work is a linguistically based historical ethnography of the mammal species of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, from pre-European times to the present day.
The research was motivated by linguistic evidence in the Adnyamathanha people's
language, Yura Ngawarla, for the recent existence of a number of mammals in the Flinders
Ranges region. The work aims firstly to identify each species represented by those
language terms and to discover the identity of other species also present in the past 200
years. Secondly, it aims to present an exhaustive ethnography of mammals for that region.
This work is essentially cross-disciplinary, with research extending into the
often overlapping fields of linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, applied science,
historical zoology and history. Comparative linguistics, oral tradition, historical records,
scientific data and sub-fossil material are used to identify the species present at European
occupation and their role in traditional Aboriginal life, and in passing, to establish the
former existence and distribution of those species throughout the region of the two South
Australian gulfs. An inventory of extant and extinct Flinders Ranges species is
established. Linguistic, ethnographic, zoological and historical data are used to estimate
when species extinction occurred, and what may (or may not) have been the main factors
involved.
A significant outcome of this work is the documentation of a part of
Aboriginal knowledge which itself was on the verge of extinction, and the affirmation of
well attested Aboriginal oral tradition as an authentic 'authoritative source'.
Conclusion: Prior to European occupation the Flinders Ranges had a rich
mammalian fauna comprising around 60 native species. These played a significant
part in Aboriginal people's diet, manufacturing industry and cultural and spiritual
life. By the end of the first half century of European occupation or soon after
around two thirds of the terrestrial species had vanished. The effect of these events
on Aboriginal people's ability to survive in their own territory was devastating and
irreversible.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219519 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Tunbridge, Dorothy, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Resource, Environmental & Heritage Sciences |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Dorothy Tunbridge |
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