Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and History on a Central Australian Pastoral Station

by Shannyn Palmer

Some stories dominate how we see and interpret a place, while others are obscured from view. Angas Downs is a pastoral station in Central Australia, but pastoralism is only a fraction of what has happened there. Like all places it has accrued people and stories, in multiple layers, over time. Listening to Tjuki Tjukanku Pumpjack and Sandra Armstrong, two Aṉangu with deep and abiding connections to Angas Downs, a very different kind of place emerges from that conjured in myths and histories of pioneers and pastoralists that have shaped understandings of the past in Australia, particularly in the Northern Territory. Unmaking Angas Downs traces a history of colonisation in Central Australia by tracking the rise and demise of a rural enterprise across half a century, as well as the complex and creative practices that transformed a cattle station into Country. It grapples with the question of how people experience profound dislocation and come to make a place for themselves in the wake of rupture. Angas Downs emerges as a place of dynamic interaction and social life—not only lived in, but also made by Aṉangu.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia

288 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2022

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful history, based largely upon two oral histories, of the Angus Down's station. Palmer is working here to tell history from the perspective of Aṉangu rather than those who colonised their lands. In the process, she unfurls a story of how Tjuki Tjukanku Pumpjack and Sandra Armstrong created community and belonging at the station. It is a thought-provoking book, carefully written, that sits between worlds. Part of its significant contribution is highlighting how much is not known, or understood.

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

A well researched history of a pastoral station in central Australia contrasted with a partial indigenous perspective that is let down by a narrative that is rambling, speculative and lacks an real coherence. I really liked the attempt at blending the two different perspectives and histories, as well as the quotes from the two Anangu people that were interviewed. I didn't like the way the narrative was put together and struggled to get through the book, despite being really interested in the topic and overall thesis. The book was ok, but really missed the mark for me. If you are interested in the topic there are several works by other authors that are far more readable and that deal more comprehensively with Anangu perspectives on the period and indigenous perspectives on the impact of colonisation.