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‘Going Up’ or ‘Going Down’: The Status of Old People in an Australian Aboriginal Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Janice Reid
Janice Reid
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Medical Anthropology, Commonwealth Institute of Health, Sydney University, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Abstract

Most statements about the treatment and fortunes of elderly Australian Aborigines have emphasised their wisdom and sanctity and the respect and affection due to elderly relatives. Ethnographic research among the Yolngu (Murngin) of Arnhem Land suggests that the actual situation of an old person depends on an interplay of structural, situational and individual factors, including personal qualities, family support, seniority, sex, ecology and land use patterns and the effects of white colonisation and social change. Cases are presented and discussed to illustrate the variable fortunes of old Aborigines and their determinants.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1985 , pp. 69 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

NOTES

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