Book

The Tiwi of North Australia

Henry Holt and CompanyNew YorkPublished In 1960 • Pages: xii, 118

By: Hart, C. W. M. (Charles William Merton), Pilling, Arnold R..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This account of the Tiwi is based on field work undertaken independently by each of the authors at different times. The study deals primarily with status manipulation and political behavior among the Tiwi but includes in connection with this a wide range of material on social life, marriage patterns, burial ceremonies, feuds, antagonisms, etc. The nature of Tiwi household organization, its economic functions and organization, and the functional relationship of this organization to the status system is also discussed. There is also some attempt to relate the peculiar nature of Tiwi social structure to geographical factors of isolation and to the favorable environment and abundant food supply found in their area of habitation. Religious practices and beliefs receive some treatment as well. Finally the authors consider some of the changes that have occurred among Tiwi as a result of mission influence and European contact and show how the nature of the changes has been adapted to basic Tiwi cultural patterns. The document is weak however on material culture and socialization processes, except for puberty initiation and there is little concrete material on kinship relations, sib and band organization.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Community structure
Household
Polygamy
Collecting
Hunting and trapping
Marriage
Puberty and initiation
Status and treatment of the aged
Burial practices and funerals
General character of religion
Status, role, and prestige
Missions
Acculturation and culture contact
Sociocultural trends
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Tiwi
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Australia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Betty Potash ; 1960
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1928-1954
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1900-1959
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia
NotesAdditional notes
by C. W. M. Hart and Arnold R. Pilling
Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-118)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
60007332
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Tiwi (Australian people)