The Australian Medicine Man (Der Australische Medizenmann)

This book drew upon investigations Helmut Petri carried out while leader of the Frobenius North-west expedition to the Kimberley in 1938-39. It is also an extensive survey of the literature relating to the Aboriginal medicine men, or, as Elkin was to term them, ‘Men of high degree’.  Available for the first time in English, Petri’s landmark 1952 book on Aboriginal medicine men, shamans, and witchdoctors makes this work available to a wider audience than was previously possible and in this period of growing awareness of the important role of Aboriginal cultural identity in the history of contemporary Australia, it is a timely addition to the growing corpus of knowledge of the First Australians.  Foreword by Susan Bradley and Introduction by Kim Akerman.