Southern Anthropology - a History of Fison and Howitt’s Kamilaroi and Kurnai

Helen Gardner is an historian of colonialism, anthropology and mission in the Pacific Islands and Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Patrick McConvell is an anthropologist and linguist with particular interests in Indigenous Australia, interdisciplinary prehistory and kinship. He is engaged with the ARC Discovery Project 'Kin and Skin' (AustKin).

• 1. Introduction. The Publication Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai 2. Morgan Imaging Kinship 3. The Unity Of World Kinship: A Southern Perspective 4. The Apocalypse In The South: Fison In Victoria And Fiji 5. Twice Converted: Fison's Epiphany 6. Cracks In The Theory: The Problems Of The Pacific 7. Fison's Fiji Discovery And The Interpretation Of Kinship History 8. Seeing Gamilaraay 9. Evidence And Anomalies From Australian And Pacific Sites 10. Howitt And Tulaba 11. The Turn From Kin To Skin 12. Time, Human Difference And Evolution In Oceania 13. Pen To Paper: Writing Kamilaroi And Kurnai 14. Kamilaroi And Kurnai: The Content And The Form 15. The Anthropology Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai 16. The British Response To Kamilaroi And Kurnai 17. The Legacy Of Kamilaroi And Kurnai In The Anthropology Of Kinship 18. Conclusion

“Southern Anthropology presents a history of one of the most important nineteenth-century works on Australia's indigenous peoples, Lorimer Fison and Alfred William Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai, published in 1880. … Southern Anthropology is an impressive example of cross-discipline collaboration that is highly informative for both historians and anthropologists.” (Anje Kühnast, Bulletin of the Pacific Circle, Issue 39, October, 2017)“I strongly recommend this book as a text to be read widely. It should be mandatory reading for undergraduate anthropology classes. It is engagingly written, comprehensively researched, and cogently argued. The inclusion of a glossary of terms provides an excellent resource touchstone for students unfamiliar with intricate anthropological concepts. Historians especially will find this of value.” (Lynette Russell, Australian Historical Studies, Vol. 48 (1), February, 2017)“‘Southern Anthropology’ is … an important book and part of a growing body of literature focused on the development of anthropological theory and method in the antipodes at a time when the antiquity and origins of humanity were being keenly debated within the centres of colonial power.” (Jason Gibson, Anthropos, Vol. 112 (2), 2017)