ABSTRACT
Statistics of population, rainfall, and area are slender material out of which to build a picture of the Kimberleys, unless by their contrast they startle the mind into some realization of its vastness and scattered peoples. The Europeans will probably increase, the natives decrease: they are fluctuating features of a landscape that is itself unchanging. To the Europeans it is rugged, ugly, and uninteresting, and is largely valued for the freedom of life it offers, uncomplicated by world unrest, city conventions, and routine. It is a background for the pastoral industry, for profits and markets. To the native it is his world, and his horizon does not extend beyond it, At most he can name about half a dozen tribes on each boundary; the rest are unknown by name, and might to all intent and purposes be inhabitants of another planet. Yet, because he is a nomad and travels over his “world” of perhaps 4,000 square miles, his knowledge of it is possibly more extensive than that of the English farmer, who, during his lifetime, may rarely leave the confines of his village. Necessity sharpens the eye of the Aborigine to minutiœ of his environment, and makes significant for him changes in weather, soil, and vegetation. But if he has mastered the secret of its hidden resources, taken his toll, and in one sense subjugated it to his needs, the environment has also intruded upon his social and spiritual existence, and indeed, provided one of the bases for it. The mountains, rivers, and natural features have shaped his mythology, and in turn have become projections of The Time Long Past into the present. Out of the conflict with natural forces, a relationship has emerged which is reflected in the social and religious organization.. If I describe the landscape in detail, it is not to add the inevitable touch of local colour, nor to afford a temporary respite from scientific and formal dissertation. Native culture to be grasped in its completeness must be seen through the country, which is no mere backcloth for tribal activities, but something much more vital and dynamic. The anthropologist and reader must come to grips with it before turning to a study of its inhabitants.
