Eagle and crow : an exploration of an Australian aboriginal myth /

This interesting study of the pervasive myth of the eagle and the crow, which is to be found not only in the southeastern tribal areas of New South Wales and Victoria but also in South Australia and western Australia, is a model of folklife investigation by a researcher who is qualified as both anthropologist and psychologist. Blows goes beyond the mere recording of the numerous variants of the archetypal myth to the discussion of symbolic equivalences and interpretation. Her text explores the modifications of the growing-tree and speaking-excrement mythic elements and shows the pervasiveness of bat, emu, bunyip, and crane stories. In so doing she acknowledges the pioneering work of A.P. Elkin and R.A. and C. Berndt, the 20th-century Australian anthropologists who advanced Aboriginal studies through their fieldwork. The writing is clear and the documentation is plentiful; however, readers unacquainted with Australian geography might be unfamiliar with some abbreviations. In a scholarly work clearly intended for specialists, one wonders why the verso of the title page advises, "CAUTION: This book includes descriptions of Aboriginal ceremonies traditionally witnessed only by initiated men." Some of the transcriptions do contain language that might have offended a mid-Victorian vicar's wife. Researchers and graduate students. A. L. McLeod; Rider University