ABSTRACT
The degree and nature of the contact with whites of the Yolgnu, Pitjatjatjara and the “Dark People” of Bourke have been very different and their persistent social structural and socialization practices have been variously affected. The Aboriginal people of Bourke, then, have clearly been more deleteriously affected by their contacts with whites than have either the Yolgnu or the Pitjatjatjara. When the British began to infiltrate Australia in the late 18th century, there were between 150,000 and 300,000 Aborigines, distributed into populations limited in size according to the food and water supply; more people lived near the coastline, where seafood and birds were plentiful, whereas density was low in the harsh desert areas. A census of 1971 in Bourke proper showed 3,009 whites and 730 Aborigines. Ethnographic information is presented pertaining to three groups of Australian Aborigines and compared with psychological data obtained through interpretation of Rorschach protocols.
