Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines

David Unaipon, Stephen Muecke, Adam Shoemaker

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English

Melbourne University Pres
01 March 2006

Anthologies (non-poetry); History; Folklore, myths & legends

In producing this edition, Muecke and Shoemaker have at last righted the injustices done to David Unaipon by the brazen appropriation of his stories and by the patronising editorial changes effected by Ramsay Smith.

David Unaipon-the man on the $50 note-was a most extraordinary person. An early Aboriginal political activist, he was also a scientist, a writer, a preacher and an inventor.

In the 1920s, under contract to the University of Adelaide, he was commissioned to collect traditional Aboriginal stories from around South Australia. He also acted as a 'collector' for the Aborigines Friends' Association. Most of the stories come from his own Ngarrindjeri people, but some are from other South Australian peoples.

The stories were published in 1930 as Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginals, but the author of the work was given as W. Ramsay Smith, FRS, anthropologist and Chief Medical Officer of South Australia. Unaipon's name does not appear anywhere in the book, except where he is mentioned in passing as a 'narrator'.

In putting together this new edition of the stories Unaipon collected and transcribed, Stephen Muecke and Adam Shoemaker have undertaken a 'literary repatriation', restoring the text to its original form and bringing it home to its community-the community to whom the stories belonged in the first place.

The descendants of David Unaipon played a pivotal role in verifying and editing the manuscript, noting anything which is inconsistent according to their knowledge, and restoring any words lost in the transcription from the hand-written version to the microfilmed typescript.

In producing this edition, Muecke and Shoemaker have at last righted the injustices done to David Unaipon by the brazen appropriation of his stories and by the patronising editorial changes effected by Ramsay Smith. The stories are accompanied by a substantial Introduction, which gives the historical and cultural context of Unaipon's work, and recounts the complex sequence of events that led to the theft of his book.

By: David Unaipon
Edited by: Stephen Muecke, Adam Shoemaker
Imprint: Melbourne University Pres
Country of Publication: Australia
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 128mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 268g
ISBN: 9780522852462
ISBN 10: 0522852467
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 01 March 2006
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines

My race - the Aborigines of Australia - has a vast tradition of legends, myths, and folklore stories. These, which they delight in telling to the younger members of the tribe, have been handed down orally for thousands of years. In fact, all tribal laws and customs are, first of all, told to the children of the tribe in the form of stories, just as the white Australian mother first instructs her children with nursery stories. As a full blooded member of my race I think I may claim to be the first - but I hope, not the last - to produce an enduring record of our customs, beliefs, and imaginings. DAVID UNAIPON, 1924