Ion L. Idriess (1889–1979)

The Red Chief is thought to have died around 1745. There are not many (if any) such detailed or accessible Indigenous histories of the period before European settlement. It has long baffled me that this important Australian transcription of an oral history is relatively unknown.

This, my second reading of this gripping story was prompted by the engrossing [b:Rachel: Brumby hunter, medicine woman, bushrangers' ally and troublemaker for good . . . the remarkable pioneering life of Rachel show more Kennedy|61298029|Rachel Brumby hunter, medicine woman, bushrangers' ally and troublemaker for good . . . the remarkable pioneering life of Rachel Kennedy|Jeff McGill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655359396l/61298029._SY75_.jpg|96656745], another historical dimension to the Warrumbungles where I live that included Mary Jane Cain. It is the story of how The Red Chief or Gambu Ganuurru became a chief of the Gamilaraay, of his journey into the Warrumbungles to steal women, his inventive and strategic brilliance, as well as a compelling insight into daily Indigenous life pre-European settlement.

Ion Idriess wrote from the perspective of the times before the Gamilaraay culturally reconstructed, so there are cringeworthy comments about Stone Age Man. Nevertheless, his adaption of the Ewing Papers is accurate enough to be both true to the original and full of page turning tension.

As described in Idriess's Introduction, the Ewing Papers refer to the source of the story as told by Old Joe Bungaree, a local Aboriginal elder. Police Sergeant J. P. (John Peter) Ewing and his youngest son Stanley wrote the notes, or a first recension, in about 1890. Some of the stories were taken down directly by the Sergeant as Joe Bungaree related them, others came from notes made by the Sergeant but afterwards transcribed by Stanley. Stanley drew on his memories, as a boy aged nine, when the chief’s grave was dug up.

The Ewing Papers have their own story. Back in 1975 I just missed seeing them when their custodian had died days before I arrived in Gunnedah. They are now available on-line but are only accessible inside a rabbit hole of intriguing research. show less

the beautiful cover art made this a must buy in the second hand bookstore. Unfortunately, the book jumped around too much and never gained momentum. Some nice passages, but too stop start. Interesting as a history read though. Plenty of casual racism despite Broome being one of Australia's first example of a multicultural society along with the goldfields. Some interesting insights for the time on attitudes towards whales, fisheries management and development.

Couldn't get into this. Got to pp 46, looked at the rest of the pictures, read an episode that caught my eye, put it down. Of course I didn't like the condescension toward the aboriginal people, but I put that down to the ignorance of the time. And I didn't understand that the white men were regarded as heroes because they were gold-seekers. I guess it had something to do with the nation of Australia needing the gold, but still it was kinda weird and ugly. But my biggest difficulty lay with show more the writing style - very dry, hardly any dialogue, too many references to things/places not in the reader's knowledge base, more like just a sketched chronicle. show less

This is tales of Australian pioneers in an exotic setting of the Kimberley in Western Australia which few people had ever visited when this book was written. The unifiying theme is the wet season, when drovers and other larger than life types gathered in tiny Derby on the WA coast and related their experiences. Through their stories the author tries to show a picture of development of this remote part of the world. I had trouble getting into the style and engaging with the characters show more depicted, and had a lot of difficulty finishing the text. I found the way Aboriginal people were portrayed - a mixture of patronising while obviously admiring of some aspects of Aboriginal culture - to be distasteful. The writing is of an era and I had trouble getting to grips with that as well. However in his day Ion Idriess was a hugely popular author whose books were eagerly awaited. show less