Why are we consistently confronted with the failure to achieve statistical equality in critically important areas such as health, housing, and education? Examining the relationship between the Pintupi people of Australia's western deserts, Ralph Folds challenges many popular assumptions about the way indigenous groups like the Pintupi interact with western society.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating,
By Delores (Darwin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Crossed Purposes: The Pintupi and Australia's Indigenous Policy (Paperback)
I read this book over a year ago now, but it stays in my mind and I come back and back to some of Folds's central arguments.
It's the first book I read that attempts to get inside the minds of Indigenous people (in this case the Pintubi) and understand where they're coming from. Some of the common misconceptions they have about politics, the world etc. are examined, and I don't think many people are aware of these. It is similar in this way to Trudgen's "Why Warriors Lie Down and Die", which deals with the Yolngu, and which I read subsequently. Anyone who wonders why government programs seem to fail ... without fail, would do well to have a read of this. Folds isn't arguing that the Pintubi are right and governments are wrong per se. He's attempting to show the "crossed purposes" that exist in the minds - and actions - of many people, both Pintubi and White.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Give Up,
By
This review is from: Crossed Purposes: The Pintupi and Australia's Indigenous Policy (Paperback)
An odd and somewhat desperate little book, which given its essential point, leaves this reader wondering why it was necessary to develop beyond essay length. The best of reasons for the book's existence is that it attempts to explain why official programs, governmental and otherwise, are doomed to failure, given the profound family polity of indigenous groups. But really, given his decade 'out there' I would have expected more productive and resolved 'bite' than what is a preface to a concerted negotiation session with indigenous peoples. The read consists mainly of a re-reading of other sources, a secondary text for academics. As the author notes, with studious reference to all his authorial forbears, Fred Myers,Tim Rowse,Colin Tatz & Will Stanner etc. none of his claims are news. It's just that the news is not being recognised! There is little, however, in the way of reflection about the violence, despair, sexual crimes, and drug abuse in remote communities of central Australia. Rather, there is an almost haughty sense of justification for Pintubi lifeways, a sympathy for their creative resilience, and 'a keep out of our backyard' style of protection. Whatever the resolution, be it an 'equitable' standard of living or not, the author must recognise that all such communities exist within the economic, if not spiritual home of the nation. Between the lines, I sense a disaffection, if not rebuffal of mainstream society. More info. on Central Australia? >rodmoss.com
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