Labor's Lot The Power, History, and Culture of Aboriginal Action

Analysis of the role of labour in every day activities and its influence on the construction of identity among the Belyuen Aborigines, Cox Peninsula, NT; Western definitions of labour; Aboriginal relationship to land and land ownership; concepts of knowledge and the role of story; negotiation of the land claim process - Kenbi land Claim; representation of pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial Aboriginality in the Darwin region - Laragiya and Wagaitj; Aboriginal women's use and narratives of the past; interpretation of mythic labour and contemporary actions - spirit children, totems; activities affecting the mythic landscape - hunting and sweat; Belyuen economic structures; proportion of bush and store bought food in the diet; use of time; relations with the market economy - local stores, use of money; history of land use and colonial ownership in the Darwin region; contemporary Aboriginal use of the Belyuen region - settlement patterns; process of forming and maintaining cultural identity in contemporary political and economic power structures.