| Title |
Etched in bone. |
| Publisher and/or associated date/s |
ACT [i.e. Canberra, Australia] : Red Lily Productions : Ronin Films (distributor), 2018. |
| ©2018. |
| Description |
1 videodisc (DVD) (73 minutes) : sound, colour ; 12 cm. |
| Note |
"A film by Martin Thomas and Béatrice Bijon" -- slipcase. |
| "Made by Red Lilly Productions ; distributed by Ronin Films ; produced with the assistance of the Australian Research Council, Screen Australia, the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, PARADISEC (Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures) and the Australian National University". |
| "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that at this presentation has images and/or voices of persons who may now be deceased” |
| Credits |
Produced by Martin Thomas, Béatrice Bijon ; written, directed, narrated by Martin Thomas ; co-director Béatrice Bijon ;cinematography, Adis Hondo, Scott Wombey ; editor, colourist, James Lane ; original music, Eric Bijon ; original music performed by Eric Bijon, Béatrice Bijon. |
| Performers |
Jacob Nayinggul. |
| Summary |
Jacob Nayinggul is a charismatic elder from Gunbalanya, an isolated settlement in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Aboriginal people in this area believe that the landscape is inhabited by the spirits of their ancestors whose bones can be seen in crevices and caves. Nayinggul is aware that many of the old burial sites have been disturbed by scientists who collected human remains for museums. This presents the terrifying possibility that ancestral spirits were wrenched from their traditional country. |
| Drawing on original footage from National Geographic, this carefully crafted documentary explores the impact of one notorious bone theft by a member of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Hundred of bones were stolen and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. When the location of the bones became known to Arnhem Landers in the late 1990s, elders called for their return. This resulted in a tense standoff with the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian - and eventually in the repatriation of the bones. |
| Made over eight years, Etched in Bone gives extraordinary insight into the deep and enduring conflict between scientific and traditional forms of knowledge. In moving footage, we see how the repatriated bones are removed from their museum boxes, coated in red ochre and wrapped in paperbark. In this way, Jacob Nayinggul draws on ancient knowledge to create a new form of ceremony that welcomes home the ancestor spirits and puts them to sleep in the land where they were born. |
| Level |
Exempt (For educational use only). Ronin recommends: Parental guidance (Adult themes) |
| System details |
DVD, PAL. |
| Administrative / Biographical history |
"A film by Martin Thomas and Béatrice Bijon" -- slipcase ; "Made by Red Lilly Productions ; distributed by Ronin Films ; produced with the assistance of the Australian Research Council, Screen Australia, the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, PARADISEC (Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures) and the Australian National University". |
| Subjects |
Aboriginal Australians -- Anthropometry -- Arnhem Land (N.T.) |
| Prehistoric peoples -- Australia |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Northern Territory -- Arnhem Land -- Social life and customs |
| Aboriginal Australians -- Northern Territory -- Arnhem Land -- History |
| Northern Territory -- Arnhem Land |
| Other Authors &/or Associated Persons |
Nayinggulk, Jacob (on-screen presenter.) |
| Thomas, Martin (producer.) |
| Bijon, Béatrice (producer.) |
| Lane, James (editor.) |
| Bijon, Eric (composer.) |
| Hondo, Adis (director of photography.) |
| Wombey, Scott (director of photography.) |
| Other Corporate Bodies |
Red Lily Productions |
| Ronin Films (Firm) |
| Australian Research Council |
| Screen Australia |
| Andrew W. Mellon Foundation |
| Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) |
| Australian National University |
| Call number |
EM-D.135 (DVD) |
