AustLit

'This book is published in fulfilment of a promise made by Ronald and Catherine Berndt to their Aboriginal friends of the Lower Murray River area of South Australia. The promise was that the social history of the Narrinyeri people would be made available to their descendants and to all Australians. For the Berndts, the fieldwork, undertaken in 1939, 1942 and 1943, was among their first encounters with indigenous Australians. It is sad that its publication is among their last. Ronald Berndt died in 1990 before the manuscript was published. Catherine Berndt survived her husband to write the acknowledgements for the book, but she too died in 1994.'  (Introduction)

'These two books deal with Aborigines in Western Australia, principally during the first four decades of this century. To some extent, they cover the same ground. Haebich spans the period 1900-40, while Jacobs studies the life of A O Neville (1897-1954) whose active involvement in Aboriginal affairs started in 1915 and ended with his retirement in 1940, although he continued to be actively involved in Aboriginal issues until his death. But if the ground traversed is to some extent the same, the approach and tone are fundamentally different. Looking back on one of the most difficult, vexed and at times disturbing periods in Australian history, it is all too easy to be critical, condemnatory and even slightly self-righteous. It is tempting to neglect the complex political, ideological and social issues of the time which framed both thought and action. In a focus which sharpens the reader's appreciation of a single man, his life, ambitions, frustrations, failures and successes, Jacobs's life of A O Neville takes us to the heart of the matter. It brings the reader to an understanding (though not necessarily to an approval) of the desire for action which was believed to be 'for their ow n good'. Ironically, despite the title, Haebich does not give us a similarly contextualised view of history.  (Introduction)