A Death in the Tiwi Islands by Eric Venbrux

Description

A Death in the Tiwi Islands by Eric Venbrux
Conflict, Ritual and Social Life in an Australian Aboriginal Community
Pre-loved paperback in very good condition, 269pp
Cambridge University Press, 1995, 1st edition

An extended case study of the social and legal ramifications of a murder in a Tiwi community. In 1988 the author went to Melville Island, Northern Territory, to study the mortuary practices and rituals of the Tiwi people. Two months into his stay, one of the men with whom he had been working and who had befriended him was killed. This event and its consequences became the focus of the author’s research. The result is not only a detailed description and analysis of Tiwi culture, but at the same time a study of its interaction with the state’s criminal justice system. Tiwi society has undergone dramatic changes over the previous 100 years, although – despite the impact of Catholic missions and incorporation in the Australian nation-state – in many areas the Tiwi have adapted and retained their own value system. The book has a strong narrative thread, developing characters and story. The author gives an intricate account of the events preceding the death and the community’s response to it. Using this framework, the author provides an elaborate ethnography of Tiwi social relations, funeral and post-funeral rituals, seasonal rituals, and the political and social aspects of ceremony. He also provides timely and important insights into a murder case involving an Aboriginal victim, witnesses, police and suspects and a problematic confession leading to acquittal after a three-week murder trial. He renders intelligible some of the deep incompatibilities between the legal culture of white Australia and that of Aboriginal Australia. With Maps, Genealogies, Dramatis Personnae, Appendices, Notes, Glossary, References and Index.