PREFACE

We have endeavored to present the results of our research so that the reader can see the actual facts on one hand and, on the other, the conclusions we reached after considering those facts.

Because our main goal was to write an account specifically of the Central tribes, we have not referenced the work of other authors unless it was directly related to the tribes we investigated. The book by Mr. W. E. Roth on the Indigenous people of North-West Central Queensland reached us after our manuscript was already written; consequently, we have added references to it mainly in the form of footnotes. Mr. Roth’s work is more closely related to certain parts of our study than that of any other author. In some respects—especially regarding the system of social organization—it is the most detailed account yet published of any Australian tribe. As fellow researchers in the same field, we gladly take this opportunity to express our high appreciation for his work.

The window of time in which it will be possible to study Australian Indigenous tribes is rapidly closing. Although we know more about them than we do about the lost Tasmanians The Indigenous people of Tasmania, whose population and culture were devastated by British colonization in the 19th century, leading to a near-total loss of their traditional way of life before it could be documented., our knowledge is still very incomplete. Unless a special effort is made, many tribes will practically die out before we can learn the details of their social organization or their sacred customs and beliefs.

In conclusion, we have the pleasant duty of acknowledging the assistance we received from various friends. We are indebted in many ways for the cordial assistance of Mr. C. E. Cowle and Mr. P. M. Byrne, both of whom have lived among the local people for a long time and know them well. One of us Referring to Baldwin Spencer, who undertook the primary travel for this research. is also grateful to Mr. Cowle for the opportunity to travel through certain parts of the interior that would otherwise have been impossible to reach.

We are especially grateful to Mr. C. Winnecke. No one has a more thorough knowledge of the geography and landscape original: "topography" of