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Author Clarke, Philip A., author

Title Discovering Aboriginal plant use : journeys of an Australian anthropologist / Philip A Clarke
Published Dural, N.S.W. : Rosenberg, 2014
[Kenthurst, N.S.W.] : Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd, 2014
©2014

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 WATERFT ART&ARCH  333.953 Clarke Cla/Dap  AVAILABLE
Description 192 pages : colour illustrations, 1 colour map ; 30 cm
Contents Part 1 : Southeastern Australia: Adelaide Plains : the museum crypt; The value of collections; Fibrous bullrushes; Yam-daisies as a staple food -- The lower Murray : missions and spirit beings; Beyond the mission; Sedges for making artefacts; Flax-lilies for medicine and string -- Southeast of South Australia and Southwestern Victoria : south of the Coorong; East of the Glenelg River; Muntrie : a food for the future; Grasstrees: multipurpose plants -- Part 2: Arid interiors: Eastern Central Australia: Northern Flinders Ranges; Cooper Creek and the Diamantina River; Western New South Wales; The river red gum; Pituri and tobacco: narcotics -- Western Desert: Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands; The Northern Goldfields; Great Victoria Desert; Eremophila: strong medicine; Spinifex for "bush araldite" -- The northern deserts : the Centre; Across the Tropic of Capricorn; The batwing coral tree: soft timber and hard beans; Wild capers and related fruits -- Part 3: Monsoonal northern regions : across the dry monsoonal tropics : The Kimberley; Cape York Peninsula; Timor-Leste; Beach hibiscus for fibre; Yams and people -- Western Top End: Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks; South Goulburn Island; Daly River; Northern ironwood : a most useful tree; Cycad nuts: treacherous -- Arnhem land: Blue Mud Bay; Maningrida in Central Arnhem Land; Numbulwar and Ngukurr; Waterlilies as food; The sacred lotus
Summary The career of a museum-based anthropologist is diverse, involving the curation of artifact collections, organizing exhibits, answering inquiries, and conducting fieldwork. Philip A. Clarke started work at the South Australian Museum over 30 years ago, and, during that time, his role changed from museum assistant, to collection manager, registrar, curator, and head of anthropology. There are many ways to explore a culture other than your own, and Clarke chose ethnobotany as the 'window' through which to gain insights into Aboriginal Australia. Ethnobotany is a diverse field that is concerned with investigating the relationships between human cultures and the flora. In the past, it was mainly used by scholars who studied the societies of hunter-gatherers and non-Western horticulturalists. Today, it is increasingly being used to document aspects of the lives of Indigenous peoples in a postcolonial world. Clarke argues that we can understand a people better if we know how they see and use plants. In this book, Clarke dips into his field journals to provide a rich account of journeys - as both an anthropologist and an ethnobotanist - that span the temperate, arid, and tropical zones of Australia and neighboring landmasses. Clarke describes the cultural and natural heritage of each region, examining the distinctiveness of the plant life used by Australia's Aboriginal people
Analysis ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS
Aboriginal Australians
Australian
FOOD PLANTS
Food plants
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Medicinal plants
PLANT PRODUCTS
Plant products
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Subject Clarke, Philip A.
Clarke, Philip (Philip A.)
Aboriginal Australians -- Food.
Aboriginal Australians -- Medicine.
Aboriginal Australians -- Ethnobotany.
Capparis.
Eremophila (Plants)
Erythrina.
Ethnobotany -- Australia.
Aboriginal Australians -- Social life and customs.
Human-plant relationships -- Australia.
Medicinal plants -- Australia.
Nymphaea.
Plants, Useful -- Australia.
Ethnobotany.
Plants.
Food.
Medicine, Traditional.
Oceanic Ancestry Group -- ethnology.
Phytotherapy.
Plants, Medicinal.
Australia.
LC no. 2015304541
ISBN 9781925078220 (hardback)
Other Titles Discovering Aboriginal plant use : the journeys of an Australian anthropologist