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The Passion of Private White
From the bestselling author of The Bush , the story of a fifty-year relationship between a Vietnam veteran and an isolated clan in north-east Arnhem Land – a unique window into Australia’s deep past and precarious present, by one of our master storytellers.The Passion of Private White describes the meeting of two that of the intensely driven anthropologist Neville White, and the world of hunter-gatherer clans in remote northern Australia with whom he has lived and worked for half a century, mapping their culture and history in breathtaking detail.As White began to understand this ancient culture struggling between the demands of Western modernity and the equally pressing need to preserve their lands, customs, laws and language, he was also trying to transcend the mental scars inflicted on the battlefields of Vietnam.Eventually, scholarly observer crossed the line into activist, advocate and defender of the clans’ effort to create a safe and healthy homeland, a seat both of traditional culture and contemporary skills and education. The enterprise meant overcoming everything from insatiable mining companies and official incompetence and neglect, to customs that were fundamental in the old way of life but dysfunctional in the transition to the new. When White began taking his old platoon mates to the homeland, two wildly different groups found in each other some of the solutions and some of the therapy they both needed.Don Watson has had his own fifty-year relationship with Neville White, since meeting him as an undergraduate in Melbourne. This book is the moving, enlightening, devastating and inspiring, it is a towering achievement, a profound insight into both our recent and our deep history, the coloniser and colonised – indeed into the human condition itself.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published November 3, 2022
34 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Don Watson
73 books68 followersWatson grew up on a farm in Gippsland, took his undergraduate degree at La Trobe University and a Ph.D at Monash University and was for ten years an academic historian. He wrote three books on Australian history before turning his hand to TV and the stage. For several years he combined writing political satire for the actor Max Gillies with political speeches for the former Premier of Victoria, John Cain.
In 1992 he became Prime Minister Paul Keating's speech-writer and adviser and his best-selling account of those years, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart': Paul Keating Prime Minister, won both the The Age Book of the Year and non-fiction Prizes, the Brisbane Courier Mail Book of the Year, the National Biography Award and the Australian Literary Studies Association's Book of the Year.
In addition to regular books, articles and essays, in recent years he has also written feature films, including The Man Who Sued God, starring Billy Connolly and Judy Davis. His 2001 Quarterly Essay Rabbit Syndrome: Australia and America won the inaugural Alfred Deakin Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. Death Sentence, his book about the decay of public language, was also a best seller and won the Australian Booksellers Association Book of the Year. Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words was published in 2004 and continued to encourage readers to renounce what he perceives to be meaningless corporate and government jargon that is spreading throughout Australia and embrace meaningful, precise language. More recently Watson contributed the preface to a selection of Mark Twain's writings, The Wayward Tourist.
His latest book, American Journeys is a narrative of modern America from Watson's travels in the United States following Hurricane Katrina. It was published by Knopf in 2008 and won both the The Age Book of the Year non-fiction and Book of the Year awards.[4]. It also won the 2008 Walkley Award for the best non-fiction book.
In 1992 he became Prime Minister Paul Keating's speech-writer and adviser and his best-selling account of those years, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart': Paul Keating Prime Minister, won both the The Age Book of the Year and non-fiction Prizes, the Brisbane Courier Mail Book of the Year, the National Biography Award and the Australian Literary Studies Association's Book of the Year.
In addition to regular books, articles and essays, in recent years he has also written feature films, including The Man Who Sued God, starring Billy Connolly and Judy Davis. His 2001 Quarterly Essay Rabbit Syndrome: Australia and America won the inaugural Alfred Deakin Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. Death Sentence, his book about the decay of public language, was also a best seller and won the Australian Booksellers Association Book of the Year. Watson's Dictionary of Weasel Words was published in 2004 and continued to encourage readers to renounce what he perceives to be meaningless corporate and government jargon that is spreading throughout Australia and embrace meaningful, precise language. More recently Watson contributed the preface to a selection of Mark Twain's writings, The Wayward Tourist.
His latest book, American Journeys is a narrative of modern America from Watson's travels in the United States following Hurricane Katrina. It was published by Knopf in 2008 and won both the The Age Book of the Year non-fiction and Book of the Year awards.[4]. It also won the 2008 Walkley Award for the best non-fiction book.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 6, 2023
I was particularly pleased when I heard about Don Watson’s most recent publication.
In the middle of last year I read Chloe Hooper’s Bedtime Story. Hooper wrote about her relationship with her two young children while her partner, Don Watson, was fighting a particularly virulent cancer. In her book she did write that his diagnosis had been positive. The publication of this book confirmed his success in dealing with this insidious disease.
I first discovered Watson when I read his seminal biography of Paul Keating. I then enjoyed his books on language, politics, and the environment. Subsequently, I have purchased all his books and have seen him at symposiums and writers’ festivals. He is a favoured guest on LNL w. Phillip Adams.
The book is an account of the life of Neville White, an old-school Australian, an anthropologist, an academic, a Vietnam War vet and a hard living man. The book is centred around Neville’s contact and work with the Aboriginal people of Donydji in the Northern Territory. (I would advise readers to use Google maps to gain an insight into the isolation of this settlement.
The pages on conscription, White’s tour of duty and return to Australia are painfully authentic. Watson captures so effectively the Australia of the late sixties and the country’s reaction to the Vietnam War. Watson is a master of the interpretive recall. His use of language engages the reader fully in the story he is telling.
Watson writes poignantly about the effect of war. How soldiers from WW1 & 2 dealt with the demons that infected their minds. He mentions one of my favourite texts, A B Facey’s “A Fortunate Life” and the irregularities in that text brought about by PTSD and dishevelled memories. The Vietnam vets were uniquely different. One moment they were the heart of the battlefield and then, within hours they were out, gone and back into Australian suburbia. They were the first returning Australian soldiers not welcomed back as heroes. I have read that the follow-up medical bills cost a country more than the actual conflict.
Watson gives a historical and personal account of the many and immense pressures that the Yolngu people faced with the invasion and white settlement in their land. The role of the missionaries, the anthropologists, government bureaucrats, the police. He discusses the effect of alcohol, food, drugs, petrol, kava on the indigenous people.
Throughout the book I was impressed when Watson used his writing skills to great effect.
“It had been too hot for much sleep. I sat drowsily in the shade of a tree by the steep sandy bank of the waterhole and watched fish idling the day away. A kookaburra occasionally gurgled before deciding it was too hot to really laugh. The insects’ purring din pulsated in the hot air, melding sound and space. A koel flew across some nearby rocks and left me with the impression that it had been watching me from the time I sat down. A kingfisher with a red breast and brilliant blue rings sat on a low branch and looked with one eye into the pool. Every so often the lightest of breezes rippled through the pandanus leaves, and they rustled with relief. The orb spiders’ webs stretching across the water swung in the breeze, and the spiders swung with them gently, and it seemed reasonable to think, pleasurably. I thought – anyone would have – “Fifty thousand years. Sixty thousand. Sixty-five thousand.”
In the final chapters Watson discusses the pressures, disputes and personal clashes that occur in the settlement. He is scathing of the Northern Territory Government, the Education bureaucracy and many of the teachers who are appointed to the school. He treats with disdain some of the tradesman, consultants and bureaucrats who make fleeting visits to the settlement.
Watson explains aspects of the different of Yolngu culture, languages and tribal groups. He mentions the people's wish for their children to be educated to deal with the white world plus have traditional knowledge.
There is a long list of Aboriginal people mentioned, Tom, David, Ricky, Bunbuma, Jimmy, Yilarama, Joanne and Cowboy. Watson creates characteristics and identities for all of the local people.
Dealing with the difficulties of small communities like Donydji is at times insurmountable. The work done by Neville White and his team of Viet vet volunteers is highly admirable and far outshines anything offered by government.
Aboriginal people do not have a monopoly on conflict in their community. Just look at the Liberal Party and the Republican Party in the US.
On reflection, this is a unique book. I came away from it with a sustained admiration for Neville White and the members of his team. I developed a greater understanding of the issues faced by Aboriginal people in isolated communities. The role of leaders like Tom, Ricky and others face in doing and providing the best for their communities is complex, wrought with division and is emotionally demanding. Finally, my love and appreciation of the literary skills of Don Watson have been enhanced.
As I read this book, I reflected on the ignorant comments about the Voice Referendum. There is a sizeable chunk of white Australians who have a pathological hatred of Aboriginal people and would oppose any effort to empower them or improve their lot.
In the middle of last year I read Chloe Hooper’s Bedtime Story. Hooper wrote about her relationship with her two young children while her partner, Don Watson, was fighting a particularly virulent cancer. In her book she did write that his diagnosis had been positive. The publication of this book confirmed his success in dealing with this insidious disease.
I first discovered Watson when I read his seminal biography of Paul Keating. I then enjoyed his books on language, politics, and the environment. Subsequently, I have purchased all his books and have seen him at symposiums and writers’ festivals. He is a favoured guest on LNL w. Phillip Adams.
The book is an account of the life of Neville White, an old-school Australian, an anthropologist, an academic, a Vietnam War vet and a hard living man. The book is centred around Neville’s contact and work with the Aboriginal people of Donydji in the Northern Territory. (I would advise readers to use Google maps to gain an insight into the isolation of this settlement.
The pages on conscription, White’s tour of duty and return to Australia are painfully authentic. Watson captures so effectively the Australia of the late sixties and the country’s reaction to the Vietnam War. Watson is a master of the interpretive recall. His use of language engages the reader fully in the story he is telling.
Watson writes poignantly about the effect of war. How soldiers from WW1 & 2 dealt with the demons that infected their minds. He mentions one of my favourite texts, A B Facey’s “A Fortunate Life” and the irregularities in that text brought about by PTSD and dishevelled memories. The Vietnam vets were uniquely different. One moment they were the heart of the battlefield and then, within hours they were out, gone and back into Australian suburbia. They were the first returning Australian soldiers not welcomed back as heroes. I have read that the follow-up medical bills cost a country more than the actual conflict.
Watson gives a historical and personal account of the many and immense pressures that the Yolngu people faced with the invasion and white settlement in their land. The role of the missionaries, the anthropologists, government bureaucrats, the police. He discusses the effect of alcohol, food, drugs, petrol, kava on the indigenous people.
Throughout the book I was impressed when Watson used his writing skills to great effect.
“It had been too hot for much sleep. I sat drowsily in the shade of a tree by the steep sandy bank of the waterhole and watched fish idling the day away. A kookaburra occasionally gurgled before deciding it was too hot to really laugh. The insects’ purring din pulsated in the hot air, melding sound and space. A koel flew across some nearby rocks and left me with the impression that it had been watching me from the time I sat down. A kingfisher with a red breast and brilliant blue rings sat on a low branch and looked with one eye into the pool. Every so often the lightest of breezes rippled through the pandanus leaves, and they rustled with relief. The orb spiders’ webs stretching across the water swung in the breeze, and the spiders swung with them gently, and it seemed reasonable to think, pleasurably. I thought – anyone would have – “Fifty thousand years. Sixty thousand. Sixty-five thousand.”
In the final chapters Watson discusses the pressures, disputes and personal clashes that occur in the settlement. He is scathing of the Northern Territory Government, the Education bureaucracy and many of the teachers who are appointed to the school. He treats with disdain some of the tradesman, consultants and bureaucrats who make fleeting visits to the settlement.
Watson explains aspects of the different of Yolngu culture, languages and tribal groups. He mentions the people's wish for their children to be educated to deal with the white world plus have traditional knowledge.
There is a long list of Aboriginal people mentioned, Tom, David, Ricky, Bunbuma, Jimmy, Yilarama, Joanne and Cowboy. Watson creates characteristics and identities for all of the local people.
Dealing with the difficulties of small communities like Donydji is at times insurmountable. The work done by Neville White and his team of Viet vet volunteers is highly admirable and far outshines anything offered by government.
Aboriginal people do not have a monopoly on conflict in their community. Just look at the Liberal Party and the Republican Party in the US.
On reflection, this is a unique book. I came away from it with a sustained admiration for Neville White and the members of his team. I developed a greater understanding of the issues faced by Aboriginal people in isolated communities. The role of leaders like Tom, Ricky and others face in doing and providing the best for their communities is complex, wrought with division and is emotionally demanding. Finally, my love and appreciation of the literary skills of Don Watson have been enhanced.
As I read this book, I reflected on the ignorant comments about the Voice Referendum. There is a sizeable chunk of white Australians who have a pathological hatred of Aboriginal people and would oppose any effort to empower them or improve their lot.
December 11, 2022
If what helps us make sense of the world, or helps us navigate it, is our community, then how do we cope when those bonds are threatened if not severed? Watson draws parallels between the trauma of Vietnam veterans whose 'contribution' to the Vietnam war was deemed as valueless (or worse) and the experiences of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land whose communities have been relentlessly threatened by settler interests. Watson talks about army comradeship as fundamental for survival during the deeply alienating and traumatising military tours and shows how connections to each other and to the land are essential to the survival of indigenous peoples.
Neville White, a veteran and anthropologist suffering from PTSD spends fifty years of his life with an isolated indigenous community where he sees his own frustration and horror mirrored during their endless attempts to surmount the bureaucratic obstacles of governing bodies and authorities in their region, as well as survive the ruptured connection to the land—and consequent abandon of nomadic practices of hunter gathering—caused by agricultural and mining interests.
A fascinating history of the Yolngu people, of the invasions of their land, of the complex cultural rules in place and their eventual erosion, of the futility of war and the futility of trying to beat the system. And perhaps the futility of holding onto the 'old ways'. But for all people the question remains: what happens when your country will no longer recognise you? When you and your country no longer recognise each other?
Neville White, a veteran and anthropologist suffering from PTSD spends fifty years of his life with an isolated indigenous community where he sees his own frustration and horror mirrored during their endless attempts to surmount the bureaucratic obstacles of governing bodies and authorities in their region, as well as survive the ruptured connection to the land—and consequent abandon of nomadic practices of hunter gathering—caused by agricultural and mining interests.
A fascinating history of the Yolngu people, of the invasions of their land, of the complex cultural rules in place and their eventual erosion, of the futility of war and the futility of trying to beat the system. And perhaps the futility of holding onto the 'old ways'. But for all people the question remains: what happens when your country will no longer recognise you? When you and your country no longer recognise each other?
January 14, 2023
This book is a moving tribute to a remarkable 50 year relationship between Melbourne anthropologist Neville White and the Yolngu Aboriginal hunter-gatherer clans in Donydji, Northern Australia.
The author, a long-term friend of Neville, writes a narrative based largely on the detailed research that Neville has conducted over decades of annual visits. His friendship with the clan, particularly its conservative leader Tom, has enabled him to record vast amounts of traditional knowledge. Sadly, it’s also provided devastating insight into how the clans struggle to maintain a traditional way of life alongside the encroachment of Western ways.
Neville is a Vietnam veteran, and a man driven by passions. When he witnesses the clan suffering from ill-health and discontent he calls on his army mates to help out. Together they’ve worked tirelessly year after year to help the clans create a sustainable future. One that allows them to stay on their land, living by their own laws and culture, but with access to modern skills and education.
The author paid multiple visits to the community along with Neville and his mates. He weaves the heart-breaking back stories of the vets, many on meds and receiving therapy for PTSD, into the tale. It’s a perfect match. Two marginalised groups helping one another to overcome their struggles and find a place to belong…
I loved this book and learned a lot. The narrative is engaging despite the many scholarly references. The author humanises many of the main characters based not just on Neville’s notes but on his own personal interactions. The photos too give a real sense of time and place to the book. It’s hard not to feel sad about the passing of the traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but Aboriginal ‘homeland communities’ seem a good way for clans to maintain a link to their ancestral lands, language and customs while also getting an education and skills for their future.
The relative lack of Government support for small, remote ‘homeland communities’ is shameful. The self-determination model of places like Donydji should be emulated rather than neglected. It shouldn’t be up to dedicated folk like Neville and his mates to provide the support that’s needed. Neville’s mapping of their homeland including sacred sites was instrumental in fending off exploration by mining companies. The school and trade workshop, plus improved housing with plumbing and solar power were all largely completed by the vets and ‘apprentice’ clan members, with help from charitable connections like Rotary. Government bureaucrats and contractors were often disinterested and full of hollow promises.
Cultural differences and expectations are portrayed honestly in this book. It wasn’t only white fellas who frustrated the vets well-intentioned aid efforts. At times when the vets weren’t at Donydji, clan members with ‘axes to grind’ tried to undo the good work. Buildings, tools and vehicles were vandalised or taken in family disputes. Community ownership customs made it hard to maintain assets. Neville and his mates must’ve been at the end of their tethers more than once?
With the death of Tom, Neville vowed that ‘he was through’ and yet the author notes in a coda that both Neville and at least one of his mates have visited and continue to be involved in Donydji business. It seems, at least for now, that the community is operating successfully under new clan leadership.
Mining company and cattle station interests and rival land claims from other clans will probably always remain a threat to the Donydji homeland community. Nevertheless, Neville and Tom’s legacy of documented knowledge and the sheer persistence of those who remain on the land, combining old ways with new, give hope for the future.
The author, a long-term friend of Neville, writes a narrative based largely on the detailed research that Neville has conducted over decades of annual visits. His friendship with the clan, particularly its conservative leader Tom, has enabled him to record vast amounts of traditional knowledge. Sadly, it’s also provided devastating insight into how the clans struggle to maintain a traditional way of life alongside the encroachment of Western ways.
Neville is a Vietnam veteran, and a man driven by passions. When he witnesses the clan suffering from ill-health and discontent he calls on his army mates to help out. Together they’ve worked tirelessly year after year to help the clans create a sustainable future. One that allows them to stay on their land, living by their own laws and culture, but with access to modern skills and education.
The author paid multiple visits to the community along with Neville and his mates. He weaves the heart-breaking back stories of the vets, many on meds and receiving therapy for PTSD, into the tale. It’s a perfect match. Two marginalised groups helping one another to overcome their struggles and find a place to belong…
I loved this book and learned a lot. The narrative is engaging despite the many scholarly references. The author humanises many of the main characters based not just on Neville’s notes but on his own personal interactions. The photos too give a real sense of time and place to the book. It’s hard not to feel sad about the passing of the traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but Aboriginal ‘homeland communities’ seem a good way for clans to maintain a link to their ancestral lands, language and customs while also getting an education and skills for their future.
The relative lack of Government support for small, remote ‘homeland communities’ is shameful. The self-determination model of places like Donydji should be emulated rather than neglected. It shouldn’t be up to dedicated folk like Neville and his mates to provide the support that’s needed. Neville’s mapping of their homeland including sacred sites was instrumental in fending off exploration by mining companies. The school and trade workshop, plus improved housing with plumbing and solar power were all largely completed by the vets and ‘apprentice’ clan members, with help from charitable connections like Rotary. Government bureaucrats and contractors were often disinterested and full of hollow promises.
Cultural differences and expectations are portrayed honestly in this book. It wasn’t only white fellas who frustrated the vets well-intentioned aid efforts. At times when the vets weren’t at Donydji, clan members with ‘axes to grind’ tried to undo the good work. Buildings, tools and vehicles were vandalised or taken in family disputes. Community ownership customs made it hard to maintain assets. Neville and his mates must’ve been at the end of their tethers more than once?
With the death of Tom, Neville vowed that ‘he was through’ and yet the author notes in a coda that both Neville and at least one of his mates have visited and continue to be involved in Donydji business. It seems, at least for now, that the community is operating successfully under new clan leadership.
Mining company and cattle station interests and rival land claims from other clans will probably always remain a threat to the Donydji homeland community. Nevertheless, Neville and Tom’s legacy of documented knowledge and the sheer persistence of those who remain on the land, combining old ways with new, give hope for the future.
December 27, 2022
It is a privilege to read this book. Thank you to Donydji community members Joanne Yindiri Guyula, David Guyamirrlili Bidingal and Peter Wanamaker Guyula for approving it be written.
Don Watson has known Neville White since they were in their early 20s at uni in the late 1970s. Neville White went to uni after being conscripted to fight in the Vietnam war. He studied anthropology and visited the clans of the Yolngu people, initially as part of his anthropological work but eventually because of his deep friendship with many members of the Donydji community.
This unique and rich book is also based on the story of the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory who are part of the Australian story of continuous living cultures of people stretching back about 65,000 years. The Donydji community in particular is the focus of story telling over the 50 years they have permitted Neville White to be part of their lives. It is painful reading to hear of the changes to the culture of the Donydji people as European invaders persistently inflict themselves on the clans of the area either as cattlemen, missionaries, miners, or bureaucrats.
Into this mix is added the post Vietnam War PTSD of Neville White and a group of ex-Vietnam War vets who bond over projects to bring services to the Donydji community. At the same time their service helps the Vets confront the psychological damage of their war service.
Don Watson’s unique position as story teller in this book is based on his long friendship with Neville and his many visits to the Yolngu lands with Neville, with or without his group of Vietnam Vets.
Don observes the many personalities of the Donydji community. His interpretation of the impact of their interactions through to the impact on them of their country, and on them of European invasion is unique.
I think this book is the most important Don Watson has written.
It is also important that as many Australians as possible read this book. It adds a very rich perspective on the culture of Aboriginal people who have continuously lived on country and know their country so well.
Don Watson has known Neville White since they were in their early 20s at uni in the late 1970s. Neville White went to uni after being conscripted to fight in the Vietnam war. He studied anthropology and visited the clans of the Yolngu people, initially as part of his anthropological work but eventually because of his deep friendship with many members of the Donydji community.
This unique and rich book is also based on the story of the Yolngu people of the Northern Territory who are part of the Australian story of continuous living cultures of people stretching back about 65,000 years. The Donydji community in particular is the focus of story telling over the 50 years they have permitted Neville White to be part of their lives. It is painful reading to hear of the changes to the culture of the Donydji people as European invaders persistently inflict themselves on the clans of the area either as cattlemen, missionaries, miners, or bureaucrats.
Into this mix is added the post Vietnam War PTSD of Neville White and a group of ex-Vietnam War vets who bond over projects to bring services to the Donydji community. At the same time their service helps the Vets confront the psychological damage of their war service.
Don Watson’s unique position as story teller in this book is based on his long friendship with Neville and his many visits to the Yolngu lands with Neville, with or without his group of Vietnam Vets.
Don observes the many personalities of the Donydji community. His interpretation of the impact of their interactions through to the impact on them of their country, and on them of European invasion is unique.
I think this book is the most important Don Watson has written.
It is also important that as many Australians as possible read this book. It adds a very rich perspective on the culture of Aboriginal people who have continuously lived on country and know their country so well.
April 25, 2024
There are so many good people doing wonderful things, yet unfortunately we don't hear about them. Neville White is one of those amazing people.
The story of a fifty-year relationship between a Vietnam veteran and a remote Aboriginal tribe: a miniature epic of human adaptation, suffering and resilience. The Passion of Private White describes the meeting of two worlds: the world of the fiercely driven biologist and anthropologist Neville White, and the world of the hunter-gatherer clans of remote northern Australia he studied and lived with. As White tried to understand the world as it was understood on the other side of the vast cultural divide, he was also trying to transcend the mental scars he suffered on the battlefields of Vietnam. The clans had their own injuries to deal with, as they tried to adapt to modernity, live down their losses and yet hold onto their ancient lands, customs, laws and language. Over five decades, White mapped in astonishing detail the culture and history of the Yolgnu clans at Donydji in north-east Arnhem Land. But eventually presence meant involvement, and White became advocate more than anthropologist in the clan’s struggle to survive when everything – from the ambitions of mining companies and a zombie bureaucracy, to feuds, sorcery and magic, despair and dysfunction – conspired to destroy them. And the fifty-year endeavour served another purpose for White and the members of his old platoon he took there. Working to help the community at Donydji became a kind of antidote for the psychic wounds of Vietnam. While for the clans, from the old warriors to the children, their fanatical benefactor offered a few rays of meaning and hope. There was no cure in this meeting of two worlds, both suffering their own form of PTSD, but they helped each other survive. This is a miniature epic of human adaptation, suffering and resilience, an astonishing window into both our recent and our deep history, the coloniser and colonised – indeed into the human condition itself.
The story of a fifty-year relationship between a Vietnam veteran and a remote Aboriginal tribe: a miniature epic of human adaptation, suffering and resilience. The Passion of Private White describes the meeting of two worlds: the world of the fiercely driven biologist and anthropologist Neville White, and the world of the hunter-gatherer clans of remote northern Australia he studied and lived with. As White tried to understand the world as it was understood on the other side of the vast cultural divide, he was also trying to transcend the mental scars he suffered on the battlefields of Vietnam. The clans had their own injuries to deal with, as they tried to adapt to modernity, live down their losses and yet hold onto their ancient lands, customs, laws and language. Over five decades, White mapped in astonishing detail the culture and history of the Yolgnu clans at Donydji in north-east Arnhem Land. But eventually presence meant involvement, and White became advocate more than anthropologist in the clan’s struggle to survive when everything – from the ambitions of mining companies and a zombie bureaucracy, to feuds, sorcery and magic, despair and dysfunction – conspired to destroy them. And the fifty-year endeavour served another purpose for White and the members of his old platoon he took there. Working to help the community at Donydji became a kind of antidote for the psychic wounds of Vietnam. While for the clans, from the old warriors to the children, their fanatical benefactor offered a few rays of meaning and hope. There was no cure in this meeting of two worlds, both suffering their own form of PTSD, but they helped each other survive. This is a miniature epic of human adaptation, suffering and resilience, an astonishing window into both our recent and our deep history, the coloniser and colonised – indeed into the human condition itself.
March 26, 2024
When I first started reading this, I really wasn’t in the mood for it. It was about two major Australian failures – firstly the Vietnam war, and secondly our treatment of Aboriginal people, both put together it made for a very depressing book. But as I got into it I became more and more fascinated by the Yolngu peoples customs, religion and culture. I realised that we have no hope of understanding their thinking when those who fully understand it are rapidly dying out.
When I was in Darwin, I was told that the Larrakia Nation people use the word 'balanda' for non-indigenous people. It is derived from 'Hollander' via the Makassan trading links with people in Dutch colonised Indonesia, so it was interesting to see that explained more fully.
The James Frazer quote 'Society progresses in an upward direction from magic to religion to science' was quoted and discussed. It was interesting to me that a man died from the disease yaws yet his indigenous compatriots put it down to his having broken a rock, thereby upsetting the spirits.
An interesting aside was one regarding the Australian classic book A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey. I remember thinking that the ending seemed somewhat fanciful with the author finishing by saying that he'd had 'a fortunate life'. Now we find out that the title came from a completely altered final sentence in which he originally wrote that his war service 'had wasted his life'. So it seems likely that the editor wanted an uplifting title and a good news story, but talking about war service wasting your life is considered an unpatriotic thing to say in Australia so it had to go.
May 4, 2024
It's a story of the lifetime work of a man, Neville White, who experienced tremendous loss and disruption as a young man when he was conscripted to fight for the Australian government in Vietnam. He became involved in the life of the Yolgnu people in Arnhem Land, in the north of Australia, studying their ways and language and gaining a PhD of the Arafura Wetlands and surrounds.
'It had in equal parts material, spiritual and aesthetic value'
Neville's personal distress , exhibited as PTSD needed treatment, and as a part of this he asked his Viet platoon to help him work at Donydji to rebuild the facilities. After the federal government Intervention to change Aboriginal lives, the Vets continued to assist with rebuilding despite continuous destruction by the locals.
I found the story frustrating, with the behaviour of the tribe being very different from usual social norms, and the lack of appreciation of work done by Neville and his mates, but that is the beauty of the story. It is the first time I have understood more about the rules of tribal authority and how events are celebrated. It also enabled me to experience the customs, the food and the ways of.expression among the tribe.
Neville White is a special man, with a gift of understanding a culture and speaking the language of people who shared everything, taught him and loved him. Such a special gift, a frustrating infuriating one but one Neville has lived with and nurtured, until he finally stepped away and left them to it.
A really great experience, highly rwcommend
'It had in equal parts material, spiritual and aesthetic value'
Neville's personal distress , exhibited as PTSD needed treatment, and as a part of this he asked his Viet platoon to help him work at Donydji to rebuild the facilities. After the federal government Intervention to change Aboriginal lives, the Vets continued to assist with rebuilding despite continuous destruction by the locals.
I found the story frustrating, with the behaviour of the tribe being very different from usual social norms, and the lack of appreciation of work done by Neville and his mates, but that is the beauty of the story. It is the first time I have understood more about the rules of tribal authority and how events are celebrated. It also enabled me to experience the customs, the food and the ways of.expression among the tribe.
Neville White is a special man, with a gift of understanding a culture and speaking the language of people who shared everything, taught him and loved him. Such a special gift, a frustrating infuriating one but one Neville has lived with and nurtured, until he finally stepped away and left them to it.
A really great experience, highly rwcommend
November 28, 2023
A tragedy about the human race. The book focuses on our First Nations people in Arnhem Land and the Vietnam vet who spends his life helping them. It builds empathy for both by detailing their history. The history of our First Nations, the contact with Makassans and how the two cultures mixed. Then the bludgeoning by European colonisers through the 1900s. It’s a great history lesson that also draws us into important individuals. Were then introduced to Neville White, the Vietnam vet. Detailing his history, and the sense of place that all people have. Interweaving it with First Nations and helping to see that we’re all connected. All need a sense of purpose connected with where we are and who we are. That the Vietnam war and colonisation are examples of that purpose being dramatically severed. Then the long process of trying to heal.
It’s tragic because in the difficulty of people holding onto their traditions and sense of place I can see the same difficulty for my migrant parents, myself and any other migrants who went somewhere else for something better.
It’s tragic because in the difficulty of people holding onto their traditions and sense of place I can see the same difficulty for my migrant parents, myself and any other migrants who went somewhere else for something better.
April 15, 2023
This was an interesting read. I learned some new things about Aboriginal and Yolngu culture. The author didn't shy away from highlighting chronic dysfunction in the particular Aboriginal community the book focuses on (Donydji), but he took a balanced view, pointing out that a significant portion of the chaos he observed there stemmed from the ineffectual and at times downright bizarre workings of government bureaucracy. The author interweaved the story of Donydji with that of the anthropologist and Viet Nam war veteran, and subsequently a number of his fellow veterans, who formed a relationship with it over several decades. He also skillfully interspersed this with the deeper history of both the Yolngu people and the Viet Nam war. It wasn't quite the powerful emotional epic I hoped (based on the description and reviews) but it was definitely worthwhile.
January 18, 2023
I just loved this book.
Don Watson has created an amazing book that retraces 50 years of Neville White's impassioned and relentless efforts to help the Yolgnu in Arnem Land.
Neville, the book's main character, is a Vietnam Vet who went on to become an anthropologist of the highest order and welcomed, warmly by many, not at all by a few, by humanity's oldest living civilisation. This is his, and theirs, and the authors, story of mapping some of their history, and the struggle of attempting to align 2 distinctly different cultures, within which lies many differences.
Don Watson has created an amazing book that retraces 50 years of Neville White's impassioned and relentless efforts to help the Yolgnu in Arnem Land.
Neville, the book's main character, is a Vietnam Vet who went on to become an anthropologist of the highest order and welcomed, warmly by many, not at all by a few, by humanity's oldest living civilisation. This is his, and theirs, and the authors, story of mapping some of their history, and the struggle of attempting to align 2 distinctly different cultures, within which lies many differences.
July 6, 2023
Astonishing - both the story and that a master story teller happened to have an old undergraduate days connection to Neville White and thus was there to write it. Multiple stories really, coming together in little Donydji in north-east Arnhem Land. Maddening, beautiful, enraging, tragic, inspiring, moving, simply extraordinary. It taught me much about the Yolngu, Vietnam vets, the NT, bureaucracy, politicians - stuff I thought I knew a bit about but discovered I knew little. An extraordinary book can do that for you.
October 15, 2023
Brilliant
Don writes well on important issues for Australian and global citizens; we all know that. But the story of a lifetime’s passion told so compellingly here opens a window for settler Australians to properly understand the imperative for achieving cross-cultural understanding of First Australian societies before we can address the flaws in our nation’s constitution and our approach to a just settlement with our first peoples. Written on 15th October 2023, day one of the post-rejection era.
Don writes well on important issues for Australian and global citizens; we all know that. But the story of a lifetime’s passion told so compellingly here opens a window for settler Australians to properly understand the imperative for achieving cross-cultural understanding of First Australian societies before we can address the flaws in our nation’s constitution and our approach to a just settlement with our first peoples. Written on 15th October 2023, day one of the post-rejection era.
December 31, 2022
4.5. Fascinating read, a deep, deep dive into a small community with immense traditions. Follows the life and times of Neville White and his academic and personal connections with small homeland community in Arnhem Land. Well written and sympathetically shared by Don Watson. Not sure if the Vietnam angle was a bit overdone but I enjoyed its comprehensive context of so many aspects of this story.
May 8, 2023
This is by turns an enlightening, interesting and deeply sad book and I was engaged, horrified, angered, grieved and curious as I experienced its pages. It makes me think deeply about the need for the Voice and its utter futility. Sobering...
December 30, 2024
Enthralling - Don Watson is an amazing storyteller with his ability to weave stories of depth and complexity across time and place. This one should be compulsory reading especially for urban Australians.
Want to read
February 7, 2023See The Sat Paper 4 Feb 23 for review - indigenous history in NT and Vietnam vet Private Whitec
February 28, 2023
Amazing read about the connection between Vietnam Veterans and their connection with the Yongu people.
April 29, 2023
A fascinating tale about a fascinating man. I reviewed this book for the Saturday Paper: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/c...
January 8, 2024
Excellent. Tragic.
January 19, 2024
Beautifully written and heartbreaking on many fronts. I listened to the audio version narrated by the author, which I highly rate.
May 19, 2024
Longlisted for Australian Political Book of 2023
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