The Eagle and the Crow

JM Field

$24.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Queensland Univ. Press
29 July 2025

History; Social & cultural history; Indigenous peoples; Sociology: family & relationships; Social & cultural anthropology

A unique exploration into Indigenous ways of knowing, being and relating, with an in-depth focus on kinship systems and how their cyclical nature foiled attempts by missionaries to destroy them.

The Eagle and the Crow is a deeply profound work of Gamilaraay knowledge and research that is part instruction manual and part philosophical text. Written as a series of lyric essays, JM Field's book ranges from Gamilaraay conceptions of time and place, and relationships to knowledge, to the form and practical functions of kinship systems, appealing to fascinating insights from genetics and mathematics as the key to the revival and preservation of traditional Gamilaraay kinship systems.

All up, it is a love letter to current and future Gamilaraay people - a wholehearted attempt to rejuvenate a kinship system that was prohibited during the Missionary Era. To the non-Gamilaraay reader, it provides a window into alternative ways of relating and being in an increasingly confusing world.

By: JM Field
Imprint: Queensland Univ. Press
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 1mm, Width: 1mm,
Weight: 1g
ISBN: 9780702269127
ISBN 10: 0702269123
Pages: 120
Publication Date: 29 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Dr JM Field (Spearim) is a Gamilaraay mari from Moree way, but grew up on Darug land in a small town along the Great Dividing Range. He studied maths and French literature at the University of Sydney, before completing a doctorate at Balliol College, Oxford. He remains a research mathematician, with a focus on the mathematics and genetics of traditional kinship systems. He is also the author of Etta and the Shadow Taboo, which was highly commended for the Victoria Premier's Literary Awards (Indigenous Writing) as well as shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Children's Literature).