Outback Ghettos
Aborigines, Institutionalisation and Survival

Focusing on three communities in South Australia, this book looks at the institutionalisation of Aboriginal people and the consequences of this for both Aborigines and Australian society in general.

Peggy Brock (Author)

9780521447089, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 29 November 1993

192 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1 cm, 0.32 kg

"This book is an impressive contribution to the burgeoning field in Aboriginal history that tries to track the formation and impact of missions and reserves on the Aboriginal peoples of Australia." American Historical Review

Up until the 1970s, a large proportion of Aboriginal people in Australia had some experience in institutions as part of government assimilation and protection policies. By focusing on three communities in South Australia, this book attempts to understand the consequences of this institutionalisation for Aborigines and Australian society in general. Peggy Brock uses the word 'ghetto' to evoke the nature of the missions in which, for generations, many Aboriginal people settled, as ghettos both oppress and nurture those who live within them. Within the missions, Aborigines were able to establish strong communities and construct a modern identity. The three communities considered in the book - Poonindie, Koonibba and Nepabunna - existed during distinct but overlapping periods and had varying responses to colonialism and mission life. In many cases, Aboriginal people associated themselves with the missions because they met urgent needs for survival: protection from a hostile world, access to rations, education and training in European skills. In fact for many, the missions became home. For others however, the emotional turmoil caused by the pressure to embrace Christianity on the one hand and the desire to maintain traditional ways on the other became unbearable.

1. Introduction
2. Legislation and policy: the context of outback ghettos
3. Poonindie, home away from 'country'
4. An established community and its destruction
5. Koonibba, a refuge for west coast people
6. Institutional upheaval and adjustment
7. Dispersal and the end of the mission era
8. Adnyamathanha: survival without institutionalisation
9. Nepabunna mission
10. The ghetto experience and survival
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Australasian & Pacific history [HBJM]