Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia [Paperback]

Harvey Arden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1995

Cast a aside all things familiar and join Harvey Arden on an extraordinary spirit-journey into the minds, hearts, and dreams of australia's aboriginal peoples, custodians of the oldest culture on earth. Through haunting photographs and an exquisitely crafted narrative, dreamkeepers brings to life a world where aboriginal "Dreamtime Ancestors" -- the rainbow snake, the lightning brothers, and the mysterious wandjina, or cloud-beings-still sustain the visionary belief system of a proud ancient, and gifted people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Arden, a staff writer for National Geographic and coauthor of Wisdom keep ers: Meetings with Native American Elders, here movingly and tellingly portrays modern-day Australian Aboriginals. Aided by a guide, he traveled in the Outback and sought out Aboriginals; interposing himself even less than Bruce Chatwin did in Songlines , another portrait of these people, Arden tried not to probe, but rather encouraged the Aboriginals to talk freely while keeping himself unobtrusive. He recorded poignant memories, inner thoughts, old stories and apocalyptic prophecies. Like Native Americans, the Australian Aboriginals regard themselves as a nation within a nation. Their sense of the sacredness of the land is unaltered; their frequently expressed hunger to retrieve their lost land is powerful. Regarded by many tourists and Australians as unsophisticated and as curiosities, the Aboriginals Arden met are extremely poor, living partly in the modern era and partly in the Dreamtime of their belief that their ancestors sung the world into existence. Photos.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Arden, a former staff writer for National Geographic magazine and the coauthor of Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native American Spiritual Elders (Beyond Words, 1991), focuses upon the Aboriginal cultures of the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia. Writing in an anecdotal style, he chronicles his journey throughout the area and his meetings and interviews with a variety of Aboriginal people--political leaders, spiritual elders, creative artists, and ordinary individuals. Arden frequently points out the parallels between the Aboriginal people and Native Americans. Like Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals identify closely with ancestral lands and are in danger of losing their identity because these lands have been taken from them. Arden allows the Aboriginal people to speak for themselves--sharing their concerns, thoughts, and ideas exactly as they were spoken to him. His compelling, thought-provoking, and sensitive account of the contemporary Aboriginal struggle for identity and dignity is highly recommended.
- Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060925809
• ISBN-13: 978-0060925802
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arden has a remarkable gift for presenting native wisdom, April 10, 2000

By 

Owen Hughes (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia (Hardcover)

Dealing with the mysteries of communities other than our own is a delicate matter. Beyond the more obvious impediments to clear understanding such as language, there lies a world of hidden signs and meanings that only reveal themselves slowly, and only then to the sure-footed. Castaneda has written about such experiences, and others have tried with varying degrees of success. Harvey Arden has, all in all, written a remarkable book about the Australian aborigine and his attempt to find a means of expression after the drab interlude of cultural effacement that followed colonisation.

Are we really surprised that these folk have voices of their own? Some of the more remarkable native or aboriginal people of the late twentieth century, are former alcoholics and derelicts. Seen in another life, just a few years ago, most of Western humanity would have found it degrading to even go near them. And yet these were just superficial aspects of the person, which can be seen past if the intention to look is there. Mr. Arden is such a seeker, obviously. I remember thinking at the time I read "The Dreamkeepers," what an amazing thing it was for this to have been written by an American visitor to Australia. The author seemed to have such a grasp of the people and their environment that I felt, surely it must have taken a local writer to develop this degree of understanding. But no, relative stranger to Australia that he was, Mr. Arden had the human touch required and succeeded where, in my opinion, few others would have. This is a fine book and yet another that does not deserve, at all, to be out of print.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In Their Own Words, June 17, 2008

By 

Philip W. Mclarty (Hope, Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia (Paperback)

Dreamkeepers is subtitled, "A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia." That's important to emphasize because the spirit-journey is the author's, more so than the Aboriginals.

Harvey Arden is a former editor-writer for National Geographic and co-author of Wisdomkeepers, a book on Native Americans in the United States. In the prologue, he writes,

"I had hoped to garner a few stories from the Dreamtime on this `spirit-journey' of mine into Aboriginal Australia.'" (2)

With that quest clearly stated, he and his guide travel across The Kimberley to seek out and interview a dozen or so Aboriginals to glean from them an understanding of Aboriginal faith and practice, as well as current issues affecting the plight of Aboriginals in Australia today.

Arden is a seasoned journalist and, to his credit, he gives voice to individuals who would not otherwise be heard. This is the strength of the book: The people he interviews are real people with real thoughts and feelings and stories to tell. They deserve to be heard in their own words, and Arden is there to provide the opportunity.

The reader is apt to enjoy Arden's adventures in the bush; his impromptu conversations with Mike, his guide; and, throughout, his humility. He writes,

"I was no anthropologist or scholar or historian ... I wanted to relate to them as human being to human being, ... but no less." (3)

Having said this, the book lacks breadth and depth: The Kimberley is one of many vast areas of Australia, and the spokespersons singled out are but a dozen of hundreds Arden could have just as easily chosen to interview. What's more, the anecdotal nature of the book leaves one hanging. Where is the historical perspective and theological reflection?

The book is what it is - one man's spirit-journey into Aboriginal Australia. If you're willing to accept that, you'll find it worthwhile; if you're expecting more, you might be disappointed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ,0reamy, August 1, 2008

By 

Thomas A. Liese (Salt Lake City, Ut United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia (Paperback)

One of the best i've read recently, so much so I was almost sorry to reach the end. Arden spins the non-fiction tale of his journey through the Australian outback to hear Aborigines' tales of mystery, in the stories of their ancestore; and tragedy, in the segregation and near-annihilation suffered by them, although the tale also had laughs. A trip!