Yolngu religious property

Abstract

An invitation to contribute to the session on ‘Property’ in the Fourth International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies led me to enquire into whether the concept of property is appropriate for thinking about the relation of the Yolngu to ritual and land. Williams (1986) deals in detail with Yolngu rights in land; this paper focuses on ritual, but relates land and ritual as inalienable property within an economy of gift-exchange. Show more