This book examines the practical partnerships and awkward alliances that constitute Indigenous contemporary practices in the town of Tennant Creek. It provides a detailed ethnographic snapshot of the Warumungu people as they engage with a range of various interlocutors, such as transnational railroad companies, national mining groups, international tourists, and regional businesses.

This is not simply ethnography for its own sake, but a sustained deployment of ethnography in response to the vexed circulation of representations with which Indigenous minorities everywhere must engage. Christen's strong approach to the current realities is a breath of fresh air and highly original. - Fred Myers, New York University

[This book] offers some new writing and perspectives on the emergence of Aboriginal organisations and the unfolding of this within national, regional and town contexts. It will make the book of interest not only to academic anthropologists but also to people in applied fields, political science, sociology, history and other disciplinary areas. - Dr Francesca Merlan, Professor of Anthropology, Australian National University

Production Details

• Paperback
• 230mm x 155mm x 20mm
• 304pp
• Released July 2009
• ISBN 9780855757021

Contents

List of Figures
Preface: Opening Business
Chapter 1: Alliance-Making- An Introduction
Section 1: Community Control
Chapter 2: Country Claims
Chapter 3: Managing Mobs
Section 2: Uneasy Alliances
Chapter 4: Constrained Collaborations
Chapter 5: Practical Partnerships
Section 3: Proper Productions
Chapter 6: Negotiating Networks
Chapter 7: Culture Work
Conclusion: Closing Business
Notes
References
Index

About The Cover

 top, photograph by Gary Warner; bottom, photograph by Kimberley Christen.