Laying down the country : Norman B. Tindale and the linguistic construction of the North-West of South Australia / Paul Monaghan.

Abstract

This thesis critically examines the processes involved in the construction of the linguistic historical record for the north-west region of South Australia. Focussing on the work of Norman B. Tindale, the thesis looks at the construction of Tindale's Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Antikirinya representations. It argues that Tindale effectively reduced a diversity of indigenous practices to ordered categories more reflective of Western and colonial concepts than indigenous views. Tindale did not consider linguistic criteria in depth, had few informants, worked within arbitary tribal boundaries, was biased towards the category 'Pitjantjatjara' and was informed by notions of racial/linguistic purity. These factors which shaped the linguistic record must be taken into account when interpreting records for use as historical and native Title evidence.