Skip to main content
Log in

Australian Aboriginal subsistence in the Western desert

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper describes Aboriginal subsistance patterns in the northern part of the Western Desert, Western Australia. It describes the seasonal round of the Aboriginal people living in this area, provides a quantified description of the plant and animal resources, and concludes by drawing attention to specific aspects of Aboriginal subsistence in this area.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, H. (1974). The Bagundji of the Darling Basin: Cereal gatherers in an uncertain environment.World Archaeology 5: 309–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard, J. S., and Webb, J. (1974).Vegetation Survey of Western Australia: Great Sandy Desert. University of Western Australia Press, Perth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beaton, J. (1977).Dangerous Harvest. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Prehistory, Australian National University, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, R. Y. (1975). Myrmecochorous plants in Australia and their dispersal by ants.Australian Journal of Botany 23: 475–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, B. L., and Latz, P. K. (1978). The western hare wallabyLagorchestes hirsutus in the Tanami Desert.Australian Wildlife Research 5: 285–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G. A. (1960).Desert dune sands of the Canning Basin. Bureau of Mineral Resources Board.

  • Cane, S. B. Aboriginal seed processing and its archaeological record. World Archaeology Conference. In press.

  • Cane, S. B. (1984). Desert camps:A Case Study of Stone Tools and Aboriginal Behavior in the Western Desert. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Prehistory, The Australian National University.

  • Carnegie, D. W. (1898).Spinifex and Sand. Pearson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleland, J. B., and Johnston, T. H., (1939). Aboriginal names and uses of plants at the Granites, Central Australia.Transactions Royal Society of South Australia 63: 22–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleland, J. B., and Tindale, N. B. (1959). The native names and uses of plants at Haast Bluff, Central Australia.Transactions Royal Society of South Australia 82: 123–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Climatic Atlas of Australia (1975). Map set 1. Government Printer, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, H. D. (1965). The desert areas of Australia.Australian Natural History 15: 98–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frith, H. J. (1978). Wildlife resources in central Australia. In Hetzel, B. S., and Frith, H. J. (eds.),The Nutrition of Aborigines in Relation to the Ecosystems in Central Australia. CSIRO, Melbourne, pp. 87–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner, G. A. (1944). The vegetation of Western Australia.Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 28.

  • Gould, R. A. (1968). Living archaeology: The Ngatatiara of Western Australia.Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 24: 101–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. A. (1969). Subsistance behavior among the Western Desert Aborigines of Australia.Oceania 39(4): 253–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. A. (1977). Puntajarpa rockshelter and the Australian Desert culture.Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 54(1).

  • Gould, R. A. (1980).Living Archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, R. A. (1982). To have and not to have: The ecology of sharing among hunter gatherers. In Williams, N. M., and Hunn, E. S. (eds.),Resource Manager: North American and Australian Hunter-Gatherers. AAAS Select Symposium 61.

  • Hansen, L. E. (1977).Pintubi/Luritja Dictionary. Summer Institute of Linguistics, Alice Springs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiatt, B. (1970). Woman the gatherer. In Gale, F. (ed.),Woman's Role in Aboriginal Society. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, pp. 2–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horne, G., and Aiston, G. (1924).Savage Life in Central Australia. Macmillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, R. (1969). Aboriginal habitat and economy. Occasional paper No. 6, Department of Geography, Australian National University, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. B. (1968). What do hunters do for a living, or, how to make out on scarce resources. In Lee, R. B., and De Vore, I. (eds.),Man the Hunter. Aldine, Chicago, pp. 30–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, R. B. (1979).The Kung San. Cambridge University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, J. P. M. (1971). Arid region Aborigines; the Pintubi. In Mulvaney, D. J., and Golson, J. (eds.),Aboriginal Man and Environment. Australian National University Press, Canberra, pp. 263–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, J. R. B. (1963).Stone Age Bushmen of Today. Blackie & Son, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddock, K. (1970).The Australian Aborigines: A Portrait of Their Society. Allen Laine, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meggitt, M. J. (1957). Notes on the vegetable foods of the Walbiri of Central Australia.Oceania 28: 143–745.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meggitt, M. J. (1982).Desert People. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, F. R. (1976).To have and to Hold: A study of Persistence and Change in Pintubi Social Life. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Bryn Mawr University.

  • Newland, S. (1921). Annual address of the President.Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia.

  • O'Connell, J. F. (1974). Spoons, knives and scrapers: The function of Yilugwa in Central Australia.Mankind 9: 189–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, J. F., and Hawkes, K. (1981). Alyawarra plant use and optimal foraging theory. In Winterholder, B., and Smith, E. (eds.),Hunter-Gatherer Foraging Strategies: Ethnographic and Archaeological Analyses. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, J. F., Latz, P. K., and Barnett, P. (1983). Traditional and modern plant use among the Alyawarra of Central Australia.Economic Botany 37(1): 80–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peile, A. R. (1978). Gugadja Aborigines and frogs.Herpetofauna 10(1): 9–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peile, A. R. (1980). Preliminary notes on the ethnobotany of the Gugadja Aborigines at Balgo, Western Australia.Western Australia Herbarium Research Notes 1(3): 59–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, N. (1970). The importance of women in determining the composition of residential groups in Aboriginal Australia. In Gale, F. (ed.),Women's Role in Aboriginal Society. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, pp. 9–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, N. (1977). Aboriginal uses of Australian solonaceae. In Hawkes, J. G., Lester, R. N., and Skedling, A. D. (eds.),The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solonaceae. Linnean Society Symposium Series No. 7, London, pp. 171–788.

  • Sahlins, M. D. (1968). Notes on the original affluent society. In Lee, R. B., and de Vore, I. (eds.),Man the Hunter. Aldine, Chicago, pp. 85–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweeney, G. (1947). Food supplies of a desert tribe.Oceania 17: 289–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terry, M. (1928).Untold Miles. Selwyn and Blount, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terry, M. (1931).Hidden wealth and hiding people. Putnam, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terry, M. (1937).Sand and Sun. Joseph, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, D. F. (1964). Some wood and stone implements of the Bindiby Tribe of Central Western Australia.Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (17): 400–422.

  • Thomson, D. F. (1975).Bindubi Country. Nelson, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  • Tindale, N. B. (1935). Initiation among the Pitjantjarra Natives of the Mann and Tomkinson Ranges in South Australia.Oceania 6(2): 199–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tindale, N. B. (1974).Aboriginal Tribes of Australia. Australian National University Press, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tindale, N. B. (1977). Adaptive significance of the Panara or grass seed culture of Australia. In Wright, R. V. S. (ed.),Stone Tools as Cultural Markers. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, pp. 345–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tonkinson, R. (1978).The Mardjudjara Aborigines. Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warburton, P. E. (1875).Journey of the Western Australia. Sampson and Low, Marson, Low and Searle, London.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cane, S. Australian Aboriginal subsistence in the Western desert. Hum Ecol 15, 391–434 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00887998

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00887998

Key words

Navigation