ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the alternative geographies that predate the rise of the modern world. Philip Deloria goes to argue that rather than a romantic hero, a more appropriate image of indigenous people may be the trickster figure—that wily mythic being, shapeshifter, part male and female, whose sexual energy embodies the life force in all its forms, manipulative as well as benign. Time is associated with the long term of origin myths and the shorter seasonal shifts and daily cycles. Time and space were thus not just containers—things to be filled in. The loss and reclamation of land is not just a struggle over real estate; it is a struggle over identity and meaning and cosmic significance. The land of Australia is becoming a Dreaming site for non-indigenous people while some indigenous people benefit from the political savvy of environmental activists.
