Blood, Bones and Spirit: Aboriginal Christianity in an East Kimberley Town

(Paperback)

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In this fascinating and beautifully written book, Heather McDonald examines Aboriginal people's experiences of colonialism and post-colonialism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Blood, Bones and Spirit analyses how Aboriginal people have appropriated Biblical stories of land inheritance, expansion and loss in order to make sense of their own dispossession and to construct a history of colonisation in the Kimberley. It investigates the embodiment of Christianity by Aboriginal people through their appropriation of Christ's body - his blood, bones and spirit - in order to replenish and heal their own colonised bodies. Finally, it is a local study of Christianisation in a small East Kimberley town, set within a broader enquiry into the Christianisation of European peoples and cultures. Aboriginal Christians are repossessing the land and reclaiming a traditional, earth-bound, world-immanent spirituality. These Aboriginal understandings of colonisation (including missionisation) and Aboriginal ways of interpreting and understanding Christianity offer a unique contribution to the reconciliation process.

Author Bio

Dr Heather McDonald studied Anthropology at the University of Queensland and the Australian National University, and has tutored in anthropology and religious studies at the University of Queensland. She worked for many years with Aboriginal people in north-western Australia and the Northern Territory in the field of community health.