ABSTRACT
The New South Wales Annual Rugby League Knockout, run on the long weekend in October, is the largest gathering of Aboriginal people in Australia. This significant event, now running for 40 years, is run for and by the Aboriginal community and is largely funded by private sponsorship and community support. For the most part this major sporting and cultural event goes unnoticed by the wider community, save for anxiety over possible violence and disorder. Through interviews and observation and participation. I set to document the origins of the Knockout; how it came about and why and how the event has changed over time. Second. I examine the Knockout as a social, cultural and political phenomenon internal to the Aboriginal domain continuous with past traditional cultural practices and historically produced.
