Blood, sweat and welfare : a history of White bosses and Aboriginal pastoral workers /

In this revision of her doctoral dissertation, Jebb describes the evolving social and economic relationships among the Aboriginal people, federal/managerial authorities, and white land managers who occupy the Kimberley region of western Australia. Her research taps both oral and written accounts of the tumultuous history of Aboriginal-white relations beginning in the early years of the 20th century. Using life histories of native people as her primary data, Jebb chronicles the historic negotiations around which the native people of the region fashioned their relationships with white power holders. She is particularly concerned with "the patterns of alliances with Bosses and the impact of welfare on those relationships." Her point is that Aboriginal people do not follow a model of passive dependency, but exhibit active, purposeful decision making as they continue to negotiate and manage their relations with governmental agencies and the pastoral industry. As traditional lands are transferred to Aboriginal owners and new economic interests (particularly tourism) appear, the complexity of negotiations between the Aboriginal world, bureaucratic agencies, and the continually marginalized pastoral world intensify. Appropriate for specialists and those interested in contemporary Australian ethnic relations. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students and faculty. S. R. Martin Michigan Technological University