Daren
Douglas Lockwood was an Australian author and newspaper correspondent well known for his writing about Aboriginals. When he published this book, in 1964 he was the Darwin correspondent for he Melbourne Herald.
He was given the opportunity to accompany a patrol by the Welfare Branch of the Northern Territory Administration. The patrol was to travel along the Gun Barrell Road into the Gibson Desert to a point about 600 miles west of Alice Springs and about 200 miles over the Western Australia border. Ostensibly they were out seeking the nomadic Aboriginal people who were living in the most incredibly harsh conditions - they saw their role as a sort of rescue and introduction of the Aboriginals to white men.
Lockwood was fascinated by the possibility that there were Aboriginal families out there who had never seen or had contact with white men - there proved to be plenty. The name of the book comes from the fact there is little to hunt in the desert, and the Pintubi people survive primarily on a diet of lizards.
The patrol was led by Jeremy Long, accompanies by a cadet patrol officer, an American cine camera operator employed by the ABC, plus several other white men, and a number of Aboriginal trackers and interpreters, all established in three Landrovers, plus a fourth that was to accompany them briefly to get them established. In short time one of the Landrovers broke down and the temporary one left, meaning a redeployment of people as they were down a vehicle to begin with.
The whittled down patrol carried on, and Lockwood describes their journey, the hardships of the desert, the men, women and children they meet and introduce to damper, tea and tinned meat! IN this day and age it would not be the preferred method of engaging with tribes who have had no contact with 'civilisation', but it was 1960, and Lockwood is describing here what the Welfare Branch were tasked to do.
Lockwood does a good job of describing all around him, adding some history about previous desert explorers in this area, and about the creation of the Gun Barrell Road. The pastedown contains a basic map of the journey and within a generous number of black and white photographs.
A snapshot of time, of course dated by modern standards.
3 stars
Douglas Lockwood was an Australian author and newspaper correspondent well known for his writing about Aboriginals. When he published this book, in 1964 he was the Darwin correspondent for he Melbourne Herald.
He was given the opportunity to accompany a patrol by the Welfare Branch of the Northern Territory Administration. The patrol was to travel along the Gun Barrell Road into the Gibson Desert to a point about 600 miles west of Alice Springs and about 200 miles over the Western Australia border. Ostensibly they were out seeking the nomadic Aboriginal people who were living in the most incredibly harsh conditions - they saw their role as a sort of rescue and introduction of the Aboriginals to white men.
Lockwood was fascinated by the possibility that there were Aboriginal families out there who had never seen or had contact with white men - there proved to be plenty. The name of the book comes from the fact there is little to hunt in the desert, and the Pintubi people survive primarily on a diet of lizards.
The patrol was led by Jeremy Long, accompanies by a cadet patrol officer, an American cine camera operator employed by the ABC, plus several other white men, and a number of Aboriginal trackers and interpreters, all established in three Landrovers, plus a fourth that was to accompany them briefly to get them established. In short time one of the Landrovers broke down and the temporary one left, meaning a redeployment of people as they were down a vehicle to begin with.
The whittled down patrol carried on, and Lockwood describes their journey, the hardships of the desert, the men, women and children they meet and introduce to damper, tea and tinned meat! IN this day and age it would not be the preferred method of engaging with tribes who have had no contact with 'civilisation', but it was 1960, and Lockwood is describing here what the Welfare Branch were tasked to do.
Lockwood does a good job of describing all around him, adding some history about previous desert explorers in this area, and about the creation of the Gun Barrell Road. The pastedown contains a basic map of the journey and within a generous number of black and white photographs.
A snapshot of time, of course dated by modern standards.
3 stars