From Hunting to Drinking: The Devastating Effects of Alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal Community

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David McKnight

From Hunting to Drinking

The Devastating Effects of Alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal Community

David McKnight

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English

Routledge
23 May 2002

History; Illness & addiction: social aspects; Indigenous peoples; Physical anthropology & ethnography

From Hunting to Drinking reveals the social change witnessed over a period of 30 years by an anthropologist on Mornington Island, off the North Queensland Coast, Australia, most notably the devastating effects that alcohol has had on this community. Drinking has become the main social activity on the island today and the amount of alcohol consumed per year has reached a disturbing level. Suicide and homicide rates are alarmingly high and people are drinking so much that alcohol related illness is rife. Early deaths are so common that soon there will be no old people. David McKnight assesses increasing alcohol consumption and explores how it now affects all reaches of community life - local politics, marriage, child-rearing practices, gender relationships, employment, law, housing and education. In an attempt to answer the question of why the Mornington Islanders drink so much the author reviews the history of drinking in Australia, and more specifically on Mornington Island, as well as its causes. Equally important, the author asks why the situation has been allowed to continue and explores the vested interest that the authorities have in the sale of alcohol on the island. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork this is a vital addition to the literature on alcohol use and problem drinking, social change and postcolonialism.

By: David McKnight
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm, Spine: 13mm
Weight: 470g
ISBN: 9780415271516
ISBN 10: 0415271517
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 23 May 2002
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction 2. Anthropological Views of 'The Drinking Problem' 3. Policies and Practices: Putting Aborigines 'in their place' 4. The Social and Historical Background of the Wellesley Islands 5. Changing Relationships Between the Generations 6. Try-Ask and Knock-Back 7, The Snake 8. The Shire and the Canteen 9. The Destruction of the Community and the Self 10. Childhood and Formal Education 11. Law and the Police 12. The Built Environment 13. 'You Can't Stop Native People From Drinking'? 14. Why Isn't Something Done? 15. Conclusions. Endnotes. Appendix. Bibliography

David Mcknight is a member of the emeritus staff at the London School of Economics. He has been conducting research among Australian Aborigines for 35 years and lived with the people of Mornington Island for over five years.