Knowledge and Secrecy in an Aboriginal Religion

Yolngu religious practices are shrouded in ambiguity--people cooperate in common religious rituals while interpreting these rituals in entirely different manners. Keen draws on recent post-structuralist social theory to discuss this heterogeneity of culture and ritual. He examines the framing of religious forms and the dissemination of religious knowledge in three contexts: age and gender relations, social networks centered on patrifilial group identity, and relationships of the Yolngu...
More Description

Yolngu religious practices are shrouded in ambiguity--people cooperate in common religious rituals while interpreting these rituals in entirely different manners. Keen draws on recent post-structuralist social theory to discuss this heterogeneity of culture and ritual. He examines the framing of religious forms and the dissemination of religious knowledge in three contexts: age and gender relations, social networks centered on patrifilial group identity, and relationships of the Yolngu with people from other regions. In a fascinating discussion, Keen looks at the effect of post-colonial social and religious changes on Yolngu power relations, focusing on the power of older men who usually retained control of secret religious knowledge. This original approach to interpreting the heterogeneous culture of the Yolngu will be of great interest to those studying multicultural societies outside Australia, particularly in the fields of comparative anthropology and religion.