Aboriginal homelands and economy in Australia's Western Desert : Martu Ngurrara / Douglas W. Bird, Rebecca Bliege Bird ; collaborators, Nyalangka Nola Taylor, Desmond Taylor

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bird, Douglas W., author.

Bird, Rebecca (Rebecca Bliege), author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient and pre-modern economies

Cambridge elements. Elements in ancient and pre-modern economies, 2754-2955

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mardu (Australian people)--Social conditions.

Mardu (Australian people).

Mardu (Australian people)--Economic conditions.

Western Desert (W.A.)--Social life and customs.

Western Desert (W.A.).

Western Desert (W.A.)--Economic conditions.

Western Australia--Western Desert.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"This Element is about the interacting socio-ecological relationships of a contemporary Aboriginal foraging economy. In the Western Desert of Australia, Martu Aboriginal systems of subsistence, mobility, property, and transmission are manifest as distinct homelands and networks of religious estates. Estates operate as place-based descent groups, maintained in both material egalitarianism (sharing, dispossession, and immediate return) and ritual hierarchy (exclusion, possession, and delayed return). Interwoven in Martu estate-based foraging economies are the ecological relationships that shape the regeneration of their homelands. The Element explores the dynamism and transformations of Martu livelihoods and landscapes, with a special focus on the role of landscape burning, resource use practices, and property regimes in the function of desert ecosystems"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Introduction : a burning economy

Historical and political contexts

The ecology of fire-stick farming

Local organization : mobility, residence, and production

The foraging economy

Social organization : property, estates, and kinship

Conclusion : going home to Martu country

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed June 29, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Bird, Douglas W. Aboriginal homelands and economy in Australia's Western Desert

ISBN:

9781009435246

1009435248

9781009435253

1009435256

OCLC:

1572418864

Publisher Number:

CIPO000361803

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license