Holding Yawulyu : white culture and black women's law / Zohl dé Ishtar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dé Ishtar, Zohl, 1953-

Contributor:

George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women, Aboriginal Australian--Australia--Great Sandy Desert (W.A.)--Cross-cultural studies.

Women, Aboriginal Australian.

Women, Aboriginal Australian--Australia--Great Sandy Desert (W.A.)--Social life and customs.

Manners and customs.

Great Sandy Desert (W.A.)--Race relations.

Great Sandy Desert (W.A.).

Australia.

Genre:

Cross-cultural studies.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 388 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

North Melbourne, Vic. : Spinifex Press, 2005.

Summary:

For two years, Zohl de Ishtar lived in a one-room tin shed with the women elders of Wirrimanu. As their 'Culture Woman', Zohl assisted the elders in establishing and coordinating the Kapululangu Women's Law and Culture Centre. Holding Yawulyu: White Culture and Black Women's Law tells the amazing story of Zohl's journey as she documents White culture's effects on Indigenous Women's Law.

Zohl examines the inter-cultural relationship of White and Indigenous societies through successive waves of missionary, bureaucratic and art industry influence. She conveys the incredible strength of the Kapululangu elders throughout this period, as they strove to pass their Yawulyu (Law) on to younger generations.

Deeply moving, Holding Yawulyu is an historical account of Wirrimanu (Balgo), a profound insight into the pressures White culture exerts on Indigenous Women and their Law. It is a touching personal story of courage and resilience in the face of adversity. Zohl de Ishtar presents an insightful analysis of competing interests that make Indigenous and White interactions complex, often painful, and fraught with problems.

Contents:

Maps of Wirrimanu (Balgo) and the Kutjungka Region xx

A Day in the Life of the Tjilimi 1

Caring for Yawulyu, Singing the Land

Caring for Yawulyu, Singing the Land 12

Kapululangu's Quest 13

The Kapululangu Tjilimi as a Living Environment 14

The Tjilimi Walytja 16

The Tjilimi as a Centre of Ritual 18

Revitalising Culture - Addressing the Future 21

The Potency of Yawulyu, Women's Law 26

The Tjilimi and Women's Kurrunpa Maya 32

Cultural Imperative, Cultural Right 35

Living on the Ground

Becoming the Culture Woman 39

Living as the Culture Woman 42

Researching White Culture as a Culture Woman 46

A Respectful Research Methodology 49

Exploring the Languages of the Body 52

Recreating Whiteness 56

Becoming The Missus 60

White Culture Shock: The Kartiya Dirt Syndrome 63

Cultural Collisions 68

Attitudes to Violence: Prime Terrain for Culture Collision 72

Cultural Challenges 75

Wirrimanu's White Story

Wirrimanu's Chronicles 76

Locating Wirrimanu 77

The First White Strangers 79

A Catholic Mission in the Desert 79

The Government Takes an Interest 83

Balgo Becomes a Thriving Settlement 84

A New Balgo Mission Established 86

Early Bureaucratic Frameworks 89

Balgo Mission is Closed 93

Bureaucratic and Fiscal Entanglements 99

Political Threats to Close Wirrimanu 106

Administrative Attempts to Secure Wirrimanu's Future 108

Whites Battle for Political Power as Wirrimanu Collapses 110

The Legacy of Political Upheaval 117

The Chairman's Stand Against White Politics 118

The Missionaries and the Tjukurrpa's Embrace

The Missionary Struggle for Indigenous Soul, Mind and Body 124

Christianity and the Tjukurrpa's Continuance 133

Ritual Resurgence 135

Indigenisation: The Church Responds to Ritual Resurgence 140

Inclusion of Indigenous Culture or Christian Evangelism? 146

Bi-Cultural Education Replaced by Christian Enculturation 153

Cultural Resistance 158

Kapululangu: The Women Elders' Cultural Initiative

Kimberley Women Law Bosses Reclaim Their Voices 160

Kapululangu's Predecessor: The Desert Women's Project 163

Manungka Manungka: the Continuing Obstacles of White Politics 176

Kapululangu and the Politics of White Culture 182

Attempts to Gain a Coordinator's Salary, Office and Residence 187

Designing the Tjilimi House to Suit Whitefella Living 188

Kapululangu's Persistent Success 191

Living Culture - The Cultural Imperative

Living Culture, Cultural Renewal 194

The Living Land and the Gift of Ritual 195

The Integrity of Cultural Ritual 200

Tamping the Singing Voice 202

The Frozen Word 204

Sand, Ochre and the Invasion of Acrylic 206

Fragmenting the Integrity of Ritual 211

The Commodification of Culture 213

The Culture Industry 218

Museumising Living Culture 221

Women's Centres as Centres of Women's Cultural Power 227

Trauma Trails and the Kapululangu Experience 231

Living Culture is Culture Lived 238

White Culture and Black Women's Law

Cultural Colonisation and Cultural Resistance 240

The Tjilimi and Indigenous Women's Resistance 243

The Warlayirti Culture Centre 245

The Episode at the Tjilimi Gate 249

What Happened at the Tjilimi Gate? 255

Kapululangu's New Coordinators 262

The Fate of the 'Strong Culture - Strong Families' Project 263

Shifting Kapululangu's Emphasis 267

Redirecting Kapululangu's Resources 269

Kapululangu's Support for the Warlayirti Culture Centre 270

Looking Back: A Three Year Review 271

Kurrunpa Maya: Women's Spiritual Strength and Kapululangu

Women's Creative Acts of Passionate Resistance 273

Taking Responsibility for White Culture 277

Fire Politics: A Kapululangu Vision 282

My Return to Kapululangu 288

Keeping Doing the Dancing: The Kapululangu Elders' Cultural Imperative 291.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 324-367).

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the George Clapp Vaillant Book Fund.

ISBN:

1876756578

OCLC:

63764762

Online:

Publisher description