Cast a aside all things familiar and join Harvey Arden on an extraordinary spirit-journey into the minds, hearts, and dreams of australia's aboriginal peoples, custodians of the oldest culture on earth. Through haunting photographs and an exquisitely crafted narrative, dreamkeepers brings to life a world where aboriginal "Dreamtime Ancestors" -- the rainbow snake, the lightning brothers, and the mysterious wandjina, or cloud-beings-still sustain the visionary belief system of a proud ancient, and gifted people.
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THEY WERE WAITING at Mowanjum. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
THEY WERE WAITING at Mowanjum. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a difficult book to review, as it generates many conflicting emotions in the reader.
Firstly as a non aboriginal I am not really meant to fully understand the concept of dreamtime, inadittion I have neither the knowledge or the right, and this is evident throughout the book. However, so much insight can be gained from the book. It is a travel through modern Austrialian aboriginal culture, it contains honest, hardhitting tales of the struggle of the aboriginal people in the past but more so of what is happening here and now. It is by no means a tale of happy mysticism, instead hightlights the problems, successes and hopes of a culture attempting to rebuild itself from the brink of annihilation. This caused a feeling of remorse not only for the actions of our ancestors, but for the way "we" still treat cultures and beliefs different from our own. In conclusion a book well worth reading as it provides an opportunity to reflect on your own life and provides thought for the journey in which you are currently travelling.
Firstly as a non aboriginal I am not really meant to fully understand the concept of dreamtime, inadittion I have neither the knowledge or the right, and this is evident throughout the book. However, so much insight can be gained from the book. It is a travel through modern Austrialian aboriginal culture, it contains honest, hardhitting tales of the struggle of the aboriginal people in the past but more so of what is happening here and now. It is by no means a tale of happy mysticism, instead hightlights the problems, successes and hopes of a culture attempting to rebuild itself from the brink of annihilation. This caused a feeling of remorse not only for the actions of our ancestors, but for the way "we" still treat cultures and beliefs different from our own. In conclusion a book well worth reading as it provides an opportunity to reflect on your own life and provides thought for the journey in which you are currently travelling.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.9 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arden has a remarkable gift for presenting native wisdom
10 April 2000
By Owen Hughes
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Dealing with the mysteries of communities other than our own is a delicate matter. Beyond the more obvious impediments to clear understanding such as language, there lies a world of hidden signs and meanings that only reveal themselves slowly, and only then to the sure-footed. Castaneda has written about such experiences, and others have tried with varying degrees of success. Harvey Arden has, all in all, written a remarkable book about the Australian aborigine and his attempt to find a means of expression after the drab interlude of cultural effacement that followed colonisation.
Are we really surprised that these folk have voices of their own? Some of the more remarkable native or aboriginal people of the late twentieth century, are former alcoholics and derelicts. Seen in another life, just a few years ago, most of Western humanity would have found it degrading to even go near them. And yet these were just superficial aspects of the person, which can be seen past if the intention to look is there. Mr. Arden is such a seeker, obviously. I remember thinking at the time I read "The Dreamkeepers," what an amazing thing it was for this to have been written by an American visitor to Australia. The author seemed to have such a grasp of the people and their environment that I felt, surely it must have taken a local writer to develop this degree of understanding. But no, relative stranger to Australia that he was, Mr. Arden had the human touch required and succeeded where, in my opinion, few others would have. This is a fine book and yet another that does not deserve, at all, to be out of print.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
In Their Own Words
18 Jun 2008
By Philip W. Mclarty
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dreamkeepers is subtitled, "A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia." That's important to emphasize because the spirit-journey is the author's, more so than the Aboriginals.
Harvey Arden is a former editor-writer for National Geographic and co-author of Wisdomkeepers, a book on Native Americans in the United States. In the prologue, he writes,
"I had hoped to garner a few stories from the Dreamtime on this `spirit-journey' of mine into Aboriginal Australia.'" (2)
With that quest clearly stated, he and his guide travel across The Kimberley to seek out and interview a dozen or so Aboriginals to glean from them an understanding of Aboriginal faith and practice, as well as current issues affecting the plight of Aboriginals in Australia today.
Arden is a seasoned journalist and, to his credit, he gives voice to individuals who would not otherwise be heard. This is the strength of the book: The people he interviews are real people with real thoughts and feelings and stories to tell. They deserve to be heard in their own words, and Arden is there to provide the opportunity.
The reader is apt to enjoy Arden's adventures in the bush; his impromptu conversations with Mike, his guide; and, throughout, his humility. He writes,
"I was no anthropologist or scholar or historian ... I wanted to relate to them as human being to human being, ... but no less." (3)
Having said this, the book lacks breadth and depth: The Kimberley is one of many vast areas of Australia, and the spokespersons singled out are but a dozen of hundreds Arden could have just as easily chosen to interview. What's more, the anecdotal nature of the book leaves one hanging. Where is the historical perspective and theological reflection?
The book is what it is - one man's spirit-journey into Aboriginal Australia. If you're willing to accept that, you'll find it worthwhile; if you're expecting more, you might be disappointed.
Harvey Arden is a former editor-writer for National Geographic and co-author of Wisdomkeepers, a book on Native Americans in the United States. In the prologue, he writes,
"I had hoped to garner a few stories from the Dreamtime on this `spirit-journey' of mine into Aboriginal Australia.'" (2)
With that quest clearly stated, he and his guide travel across The Kimberley to seek out and interview a dozen or so Aboriginals to glean from them an understanding of Aboriginal faith and practice, as well as current issues affecting the plight of Aboriginals in Australia today.
Arden is a seasoned journalist and, to his credit, he gives voice to individuals who would not otherwise be heard. This is the strength of the book: The people he interviews are real people with real thoughts and feelings and stories to tell. They deserve to be heard in their own words, and Arden is there to provide the opportunity.
The reader is apt to enjoy Arden's adventures in the bush; his impromptu conversations with Mike, his guide; and, throughout, his humility. He writes,
"I was no anthropologist or scholar or historian ... I wanted to relate to them as human being to human being, ... but no less." (3)
Having said this, the book lacks breadth and depth: The Kimberley is one of many vast areas of Australia, and the spokespersons singled out are but a dozen of hundreds Arden could have just as easily chosen to interview. What's more, the anecdotal nature of the book leaves one hanging. Where is the historical perspective and theological reflection?
The book is what it is - one man's spirit-journey into Aboriginal Australia. If you're willing to accept that, you'll find it worthwhile; if you're expecting more, you might be disappointed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
,0reamy
2 Aug 2008
By Thomas A. Liese
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the best i've read recently, so much so I was almost sorry to reach the end. Arden spins the non-fiction tale of his journey through the Australian outback to hear Aborigines' tales of mystery, in the stories of their ancestore; and tragedy, in the segregation and near-annihilation suffered by them, although the tale also had laughs. A trip!
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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