The Customs and Traditions of the Aboriginal Natives of North Western Australia (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

a oeThe object of this work is to preserve, before civilization has made them obsolete, the traditions and customs of the aboriginal natives of the North-West of Western Australia-particularly those of the Pilbarra district-as accurately as possible, based upon upwards of twenty years' observation. Since the discovery of gold and the consequent influx of population the natives cannot carry out their traditions as they used to do-most of the young men being in the employment of the whites, prefer to imitate them, caring little or nothing for their elders' teachings. So it is merely a matter of time when they will become extinct. It is quite probable that the curse of drink together with the supplanting of black children by mixed races will eventually cause them to die out, for it is reasonable to suppose that few intellectual persons will find companionship in the natives, so they merely gain the evil part of the European element from those who do associate closely with them. a 