My Natives and I

The Passing of the Aboriginies was one of the most influential books about Australia ever to be published. Daisy Bates’ record of her lifetime amongst the Aboriginies was criticised for some of the attitudes that it expressed, notably her belief in their inevitable extinction. In scientific circles she was dismissed as a crank. However, anthropologists, historians and all those interested in Aboriginal Australia have begun to realise that her unique knowledge of Aboriginal society cannot be lightly dismissed. In this edition, her original 1936 newspaper series “My Natives And I” has been integrated with the 1938 book, restoring the omissions and indicating the additions. An extensive new introduction by Bob Reece of Murdoch University outlines the circumstances in which the newspaper series and the book were produced, drawing on Daisy’s own letters to her publisher, John Murray, and the reminiscences of her collaborator and friend, Ernestine Hill.