Introduction：THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES 1
The Original Settlers 1
Variations and Common Themes 2
Western Desert Culture 6
Who are the Mardudjara？ 8
Doing Fieldwork in the Desert 10
1.THE SPIRITUAL IMPERATIVE 14
Introduction 14
The Dreamtime 15
Religion and Morality 17
Ensuring Continuity 18
2.SUBSISTENCE IN A MOST MARGINAL HABITAT 20
Ecological Setting 20
The Desert through Explorers’Eyes 24
The Western Desert as a Culture Area 27
Coping with the Desert 28
Conclusion 42
3.THE SOCIAL IMPERATIVE 43
Kinship 43
Local Organization 49
Social Categories 54
4.LIFE CYCLE AND MALE INITIATION 61
Spiritual Preexistence 61
Birth 63
Childhood 64
Male Initiation 67
Marriage 80
Growing Old 82
Death and Its Aftermath 83
5.THE RELIGIOUS LIFE 87
The Sexual Division of Ritual Labor 87
Myth，Ritual，and Songline 88
Sites and Paraphernalia 105
Magic and Sorcery 106
Dynamic Elements in the Religious Life 112
6.LIVING THE DREAM 116
The Ideal at the Level of Group and Society 116
The Realities of Group and Society 117
The Ideal at the Level of the Individual 120
The Realities of Individual Behavior 121
7.THE MARDUDJARA TODAY 129
Aboriginal Emigration and the Frontier 129
Change and Continuity 131
Problems in Adaptation 132
Conclusion 137
Glossary 139
References Cited 141
Recommended Reading 145
Films 148