Hunters and Trackers of the Australian Desert [electronic resource]

Lowe, Pat2002

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Summary

Australian Aborigines are legendary hunters and trackers. However, few people have more than a sketchy idea of the skills they have to master from early childhood onwards. The people of the deserts that make up the centre of Australia adapted to one of the most marginal environments on earth, with no technology to assist them other than what they could make with their own hands. This book describes the hunting lifestyle of desert people both before European contact and today. It discusses the art of tracking in some detail, and shows how it is part of a body of knowledge, which includes an intimate understanding of animal behaviour, an excellent memory and a faultless sense of direction. The author discusses the debt owed by the police to Aboriginal trackers, and offers new insights into well-known events such as the Azaria Chamberlain saga. Pat Lowe is a psychologist who lives in Broome where she met Aboriginal artist Jimmy Pike, who had grown up in the Great Sandy Desert.