This book challenges a number of widespread preconceptions about Aboriginal society and its interaction with the wider non-Aboriginal society. It builds on recent scholarship that has drastically changed the view of Aboriginal women propagated by nineteenth and early twentieth century reports. These reporters unconsciously based their assessments on their knowledge of their own society; they could not conceive of women undertaking autonomous economic activity. These observations were made by men, and some women, imposing their cultural values on Aboriginal society, and dealing primarily with Aboriginal men. They were influenced by the fact that in white society political and religious power was in the hands of men; they shared the common assumption that the female roles of wife and mother carried as little power and authority in Aboriginal society as they did in western society. This collection of essays, which includes accounts ranging from traditional societies to societies reacting to decades of interaction with non-Aboriginal culture, explores the active role of women in Aboriginal cultural and religious life. It demonstrates the cultural authority possessed by women; it records the pivotal role of women as repositories of cultural knowledge and in the struggle to maintain or rebuild the means of passing on that knowledge. Women, Rites & Sites should be read by all people interested in Aboriginal-white relations, in Aboriginal culture and women's studies.

In struggles over access to land, Aboriginal women's concerns have often remained unacknowledged. Their words - and silences - have been frequently misheard, misunderstood, misrepresented, misused. The controversy about 'secret women's business' in the Hindmarsh Island Bridge conflict has brought this issue to the attention of the general public. How can Aboriginal women assert their claims while protecting, by remaining silent, their culturally sensitive knowledge? How can they prevent their words and silences being misrepresented? Words and Silences explores the barriers confronting Aboriginal women trying to defend their land rights. The contributors to this volume provide insights into the intricacies of Aboriginal social and cultural knowledge, and introduce the reader to different understandings of how the gendered nature of Aboriginal land ownership adds complexity to the cross-cultural encounter. In lively and engaging prose they document the ongoing struggles of Aboriginal women across Australia, who are fighting to ensure they receive due recognition of their rights in land.

This collection of essays sets out to challenge a number of widespread preconceptions about Aboriginal society and its interaction with the wider non-Aboriginal society of Australia. It builds on recent scholarship which has drastically modified the view of Aboriginal women promoted by 19th and earlier 20th century reports describing them as drudges and slaves. It accords the cultural role of Aboriginal women the power and authority it clearly possesses and uncovers a hitherto largely hidden world. "Women, rites and sites" is a worthy successor to the highly successful "Daughters of the Dreaming". Like that book, it uncovers a fascinating, but hitherto largely hidden, world -- the world of Aboriginal women, struggling to preserve a culture caught between two profoundly different cultures. "Peggy Brock is Historian with the Aboriginal Heritage Branch of the South Australian Department of Environment & Planning, which commissioned the reports on which the book is based.". This book is intended for students and researchers in anthropolgy, Aboriginal studies and women's studies.

Up until the 1970s, a large proportion of Aboriginal people in Australia had some experience in institutions as part of government assimilation and protection policies. By focusing on three communities in South Australia, this book attempts to understand the consequences of this institutionalisation for Aborigines and Australian society in general. Peggy Brock uses the word 'ghetto' to evoke the nature of the missions in which, for generations, many Aboriginal people settled, as ghettos both oppress and nurture those who live within them. Within the missions, Aborigines were able to establish strong communities and construct a modern identity. The three communities considered in the book - Poonindie, Koonibba and Nepabunna - existed during distinct but overlapping periods and had varying responses to colonialism and mission life. In many cases, Aboriginal people associated themselves with the missions because they met urgent needs for survival: protection from a hostile world, access to rations, education and training in European skills. In fact for many, the missions became home. For others however, the emotional turmoil caused by the pressure to embrace Christianity on the one hand and the desire to maintain traditional ways on the other became unbearable.