Aborigines' Tales

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29146, 5 March 1960, Page 3

Aborigines' Tales

Tales from the Aborigines. By W. E. Harney. Robert Hale. 189 pp.

During a life-time spent among the aborigines of the Northern Territory, the author of this book gained an intimate knowledge of their ‘ribal customs, the weirdness of which permeates many of the stories here presented to the reader. We read here, for example, of how the aborigines ceremonially wrap the bones of their dead in a paper bark shroud, and of the strange talismans they carry about with them, such as a withered finger joint carried in a grass bag about the neck. As for the weird, legendary monstrosities encountered in these tales, one might mention as typical the rainbow serpents that are said to be “the offspring of captured native girls and crocodile fathers.”

Some of the stories portray the native character against a background of hunting, work and camp-life; while others are meant to instill into the minds of native children a “espect for ancient, tribal laws. Whatever the purpose behind the stories, they acquaint the reader in an arresting way with the rich and variegated pattern of life as known to the Australian aborigines. The book is copiously illustrated.